LITTLE    JOURNEYS    IN 
LITERATUEE 


JULIA    WARD    HOWE. 


Helen  M.  Winslow 


lllttatratth 


L-C  PAGE-  &?•  COMPANY 
BOSTON  &  PUBLISHERS 


Little  Journeys  in  Literature 


Copyright,  1902 
BY  L.  C.  PAGE  &  COMPANY 

(INCORPORATED) 


All  rights  reserved 


Fifth  Impression,  October,   1906 


COLONIAL  PRESS 

Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  C.  H,  Simonds  &*  Co. 
Boston,  U.S.A. 


PS 


TO 

1).  Clement 

WHO  NOT  ONLY  HAS  RENDERED  THE 
CAUSE  OF  LETTERS  LONG  AND  EFFI 
CIENT  SERVICE  AS  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 
OF  OUR  LITERARY  NEWSPAPER,  THE 
BOSTON  EVENING  TRANSCRIPT  J  BUT 
TO  WHOSE  ENCOURAGEMENT  AND  AP 
PRECIATION,  DURING  MANY  YEARS, 
THE  AUTHOR  OWES  HER  CLAIM 
TO  BE  A  SMALL  FRACTION  OF 
"LITERARY  BOSTON  OF  TO-DAY" 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

I.  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich  and 
Thomas  Wentworth  Hig- 
ginson  11 

II.  Edward  Everett  Hale  and 
Julia  Ward  Howe  and  Her 
Family  31 

III.  Mrs.  James  T.  Fields,  Sarah 

Orne    Jewett,    and    Alice 
Brown  56 

IV.  Louise     Chandler     Moulton, 

Helen  Choate  Prince,  and 
Edna  Dean  Proctor  77 

V.  Margaret  Deland,  Elizabeth 
Stuart  Phelps  Ward,  Her 
bert  D.  Ward,  Harriet  Pres- 
cott  Spofford  94 

VI.     John  Townsend  Trowbridge 

and  Hezekiah  Butterworth     118 
VII.     James  Jeffrey  Roche,  Thomas 
Russell  Sullivan,  John  T. 
Wheelwright,    Frederic  J. 
Stimson,  and  Robert  Grant     143 
VIII.     Arlo  Bates,  Percival  Lowell, 
Justin   H.    Smith,   Henry 
Cabot  Lodge,  John  Torrey 
Morse,  and  Bradford  Tor- 
rey  171 

is 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

IX.  Eliza  Orne  White,  Agnes 
Blake  Poor,  Anna  Fuller, 
Helen  Leah  Reed,  and 
Evelyn  Greenleaf  Suther 
land  190 
X.  Josephine  Preston  Peabody, 
Beulah  Marie  Dix,  Caro 
line  Ticknor,  Elizabeth 
Phipps  Train,  Mary  Tap- 
pan  Wright,  Lilian  Shu- 
man,  and  Geraldine  Brooks  206 
XI.  Mary  A.  Livermore,  Adeline 
D.  T.  Whitney,  Edna  Dow 
Cheney,  Abby  Morton 
Diaz,  and  Kate  Tannatt 
Woods  226 
XII.  The  Cambridge  Set :  Charles 
Eliot  Norton,  President 
Eliot,  and  other  Authors 
Connected  with  Harvard 
University,  Wellesley  Col 
lege,  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology, 
etc.  258 

XIII.  Charlotte  Porter  and  Helen 
Archibald  Clarke,  Editors 
of  Poet-Lore,  Louise  Imo- 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

gen  Guiney,  May  Alden 
Ward,  and  William  G. 
Ward  276 

XIV.  Nathan  Haskell  Dole, 
Charles  F.  Dole,  George 
Willis  Cooke,  Sam  Wal 
ter  Foss,  Charles  Follen 
Adams,  and  Edward  Pay- 
son  Jackson  292 
XV.  J.  L.  Harbour,  James  Buck- 
ham,  Oscar  Fay  Adams, 
A  s  h  t  o  n  R.  Willard, 
Charles  Felton  Pidgin, 
and  Willis  Boyd  Allen  317 
XVI.  Kate  Sanborn,  Alice  Free 
man  Palmer,  Mary  E. 
Blake,  Sophie  Swett, 
Florence  Converse,  Anna 
Farquhar,  Lilian  Whit 
ing,  and  Katharine  E. 
Conway  337 
XVII.  Frank  P.  Stearns,  Henry 
D.  Lloyd,  and  the  Lead 
ers  of  the  New  Thought 
Movement  368 

XVIII.     Journalist  Authors,  Edward 
H.  Clement,  Henry  Aus- 
xi 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

tin  Clapp,  Bliss  Perry,  Ed 
win  D.  Mead,  Curtis  Guild, 
Charles  E.  L.  Wingate, 
Sylvester  Baxter,  and  Ed 
mund  Noble  395 

XIX.     Literary  Boston  of  the  Future     428 


xn 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Julia  Ward  Howe  Frontispiece 

Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich  16 

Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson  28 

Edward  Everett  Hale  34 

Sarah  Orne  Jewett  64 

Louise  Chandler  Moulton  -84 

Homes  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ward  113 

James  Jeffrey  Roche  145 

Arlo  Bates  172 

Henry  Cabot  Lodge  182 

Mary  A.  Livermore  226 

Charles  W.  Eliot  264 

Charles  Follen  Adams  310 

Kate  Sanborn  339 

Edward  H.  Clement  397 

Bliss  Perry  426 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

The  author  wishes  to  acknowledge  her 
indebtedness  to  those  who  have  helped  her 
in  preparing  this  little  volume.  Thanks 
are  due  to  Mr.  J.  L.  Harbour  and  Mrs. 
Sallie  Joy  White  for  editorial  assistance; 
and  also  to  many  of  the  authors  who  have 
contributed  data  and  photographs  in  re 
sponse  to  requests  for  the  same;  and  more 
especially  and  heartily  for  the  cordial 
spirit  of  cooperation  and  messages  of  in 
terest  which  accompanied  them. 

Special  thanks  should  be  accorded,  too, 
to  James  Pott  &  Co.,  publishers,  New 
York  City,  for  permission  to  use  extracts 
from  the  chapter  on  Mr.  Aldrich  in  their 
"  American  Authors  and  Their  Homes," 
and  also  to  Mr.  Erving  Winslpiv  for  ma 
terial  gleaned  from  "  Time  and  the  Hour." 


LITTLE    JOURNEYS    IN 
LITERATURE 


CHAPTER   I. 

THOMAS     BAILEY     ALDRICH     AND     THOMAS 
WENTWORTII     HIGGINSON 

rHE  rest  of  the  world  will  tell  you 
there  is  no  literary  Boston  of  to 
day.  Nothing  delights  the  average 
New  Yorker  or  Chicagoan  more  than  to 
point  to  our  past  glories  and  cry,  "  Boston 
is  no  longer  the  Hub  of  the  Universe." 
And  yet,  Mr.  Eoswell  Field,  loaned  us  for 
two  years  from  the  literary  purlieus  of 
Chicago,  wrote  back  to  the  Evening  Post 
of  that  city :  "  Merely  as  a  matter  of  gen 
eral  statistics  and  possibly  of  general 

11 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

interest,  it  may  be  set  down  that  every 
family  in  Middlesex  County,  Massachu 
setts,  boasts  a  rubber-tree  and  an  author. 
In  certain  instances  there  are  two  or  three 
rubber-trees  and  an  author,  and  in  others 
two  or  three  authors  and  a  rubber-tree,  but 
the  average  holds  good,  and  we  are  all  very 
happy  and  contented ;  "  —  a  statement 
that  made  him  the  recipient  of  a  small 
forest  of  rubber-trees  from  sympathetic 
Bostonians,  since  the  Field  family  had 
possessed  two  authors  and  none  of  the 
evergreen  tree. 

Again  the  attitude  of  the  Chicagoan 
among  us  is  expressed  as  follows :  "  Back 
in  Cook  County,  where  culture  is  believed 
to  make  thirty  revolutions  a  minute,  we 
were  accustomed  to  think  that  the  amal 
gamated  poets  and  concatenated  laureates 
were  tolerably  plentiful;  but,  bless  you, 
their  mobilised  force  would  not  make  a 
12 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

respectable  escort  for  the  men  and  women 
of  Boston  who  have  not  only  written  books, 
but  have  had  them  published.  However, 
we  do  not  talk  about  these  things  in  Bos 
ton;  we  accept  them  as  the  logical  out 
come  of  the  strenuous  intellectual  life, 
and  if,  perchance,  a  forlorn  and  ship 
wrecked  brother  has  not  utilised  the  ad 
vantages  environment  has  given  him,  he 
can  look  at  our  footprints  and  take  heart 
again.  The  Boston  author  impresses  me 
as  much  less  self-assertive  than  his  Western 
brother.  This  is  probably  due  to  the  fact 
that  there  are  so  many  more  of  him.  By 
the  same  token  the  Boston  terrier  is  not 
nearly  so  arrogant  and  presumptuous  in 
the  Back  Bay  as  in  Chicago.  I  suppose 
it  takes  some  of  the  starch  cut  of  the 
author  and  the  terrier  to  reflect  that  they 
are  very  numerous,  and  at  the  most  must 
divide  the  attention  of  the  family  with  the 

13 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

rubber-tree  and  the  never-failing  picture 
of  Phillips  Brooks.  So  he,  the  author,  — 
not  the  terrier,  —  is  usually  a  charming 
gentleman,  not  wholly  unconscious  of  his 
individual  purpose,  but  ready  to  concede 
that  there  are  others.  The  whole  problem 
of  authorial  self-abnegation  and  renuncia 
tion  of  the  crown  is  solved  by  the  phrase 
1  there  are  others/  ' 

Those  were,  indeed,  halcyon  days  in 
Boston  literature  when  its  exponents  were 
such  men  as  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes, 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Henry  Wadsworth 
Longfellow,  James  Russell  Lowell,  Na 
thaniel  Hawthorne,  John  Greenleaf  Whit- 
tier,  and  James  T.  Fields.  That  was  a 
literary  epoch  the  like  of  which  has 
scarcely  been  known  since  the  Elizabethan 
age.  But  these  men,  who  established  the 
reputation  for  Boston  as  a  literary  centre, 
have  all  passed  on  to  unknown  glories,  and 
14 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

the  world  says  truly  that  Boston  has  none 
to  fill  their  place.  But,  we  ask,  has  any 
other  city  in  America,  or  in  the  world, 
men,  —  a  group  of  men,  —  like  them  ? 
In  what  country  will  you  find  to-day  a 
match  for  that  delicate  and  Denial  hu 
mourist,  Doctor  Holmes  ?  Where  a  phi 
losopher  like  Emerson  ?  What  town  can 
show  us  another  Hawthorne,  or  Lowell,  or 
Whittier  ?  Then  let  not  other  cities  sneer 
at  Boston  until  they  can  hold  up  such  citi 
zens  of  their  own,  and  say,  "  Behold,  we 
are  the  people !  " 

No;  that  is  an  age  past  and  gone;  and 
we  do  not  claim  that  Boston  can  produce 
it  again  to-day,  nor  perhaps  ever ;  and  yet 
we  can  show  cause  for  our  claim  that  lit 
erature  is  not  yet  a  bygone  art  in  conserv 
ative,  Puritanic,  beloved  old  Boston.  We 
may  not  have  our  great  men,  our  literary 


15 


LITEKARY   BOSTON   OF   TO-DAY 

geniuses  of  the  past,  but  "  there  are  oth 
ers,"  and  of  them  let  us  speak. 

There  is  still  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich, 
who,  although  no  longer  editor  of  the  At 
lantic,  is  yet  a  resident  of  Boston  and  his 
beloved  Ponkapog.  From  the  day  when 
his  "  Story  of  a  Bad  Boy  "  made  its  ap 
pearance,  he  has  ranked  among  the  leading 
men  of  letters.  He  was  the  personal  friend 
of  each  of  the  galaxy  that  made  Boston 
famous  between  1850  and  1875.  Whether 
it  was  in  story  or  in  verse,  his  writings 
were  eagerly  watched  for,  and  nnquestion- 
ingly  accepted  as  the  best  in  American 
literature.  Mr.  Aldrich  is  a  charming 
man  to  meet.  Contrary  to  the  general 
impression,  he  is  small,  rather  boyish  in 
build,  and  beardless,  except  for  a  slight 
moustache,  which  is  kept  waxed  with  as 
tender  care  as  any  bestowed  on  the  hirsute 
adornments  of  our  "  jeunesse  doree."  He 
16 


THOMAS    BAILEY    ALDRICR 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

has  lived  for  many  years  in  a  famous  old 
house  on  Mt.  Vernon  Street,  with  his  wife 
and  his  twin  boys,  and  when  the  owner 
of  the  house  died  a  few  years  ago,  and 
left  not  only  the  establishment,  but  a  for 
tune  as  well,  to  the  Aldrich  family,  all 
Boston  rejoiced  in  the  good  fortune  of  the 
"  Poet  of  Ponkapog." 

He  was  born  November  second,  1836,  at 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and,  although  he 
passed  most  of  his  boyhood  in  Louisiana, 
he  returned  to  Portsmouth  in  1850,  and 
prepared  for  Harvard.  Two  years  later 
his  father  died,  and  he  went  into  a  bank 
ing-house  in  New  York.  This  position 
he  occupied  three  years,  and  then  left  for 
an  editorial  position  on  the  New  York 
Evening  Mirror.  He  was  editor  after 
ward  of  N.  P.  Willis's  Home  Journal  and 
the  Illustrated  News,  and  in  1865  came  to 
Boston  to  take  charge  of  Every  Saturday, 

17 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

a  popular  periodical  established  by  James 
T.  Fields.  In  1881  he  became  the  editor 
of  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  succeeding  Mr. 
William  Dean  Howells,  a  post  which  he 
kept  until  1890,  since  when  he  has  de 
voted  himself  entirely  to  literature,  al 
though  he  has  published  little  during  the 
past  few  years.  We  may,  however,  expect 
a  book  of  reminiscences  from  his  pen, 
which  is  sure  to  be  a  valuable  and  inter 
esting  contribution  to  literature.  Among 
his  books  are  "  The  Ballad  of  Babie  Bell 
and  Other  Poems,"  "  The  Story  of  a  Bad 
Boy,"  "Cloth  of  Gold,"  "Flower  and 
Thorn,"  "  Mercedes  and  Later  Lyrics," 
"Marjorie  Daw  and  Other  People,"  "Pru 
dence  Palfry,"  "The  Queen  of  Sheba," 
"  The  Stillwater  Tragedy,"  "  From  Pon- 
kapog  to  Pesth,"  "  Wyndham  Towers," 
"  The  Sister's  Tragedy,"  "  An  Old  Town 
by  the  Sea,"  "  Two  Bites  at  a  Cherry  and 
18 


LITERARY   BOSTON   OF   TO-DAY 

Other  Stories,"  "  Judith  and  Holofernes," 
etc.  Says  a  recent  writer  in  "  American 
Authors  and  Their  Homes  " : 

"  From  the  very  crest  of  Beacon  Hill, 
where  stands  the  almost  painfully  new 
marble  of  the  straggling  addition  to  the 
Bulfinch  State-House,  there  slopes  swiftly 
to  the  water's  edge  a  street  whose  coun 
terpart  is  not  to  be  found  in  America.  It 
is  lined  with  the  noblest  houses  of  Boston, 
the  most  of  them  at  least  half  a  century 
old.  They  were  built  by  the  courtly  gen 
tlemen  of  that  time,  and  many  are  still 
occupied  by  descendants  of  those  merchant 
princes  and  statesmen  who  made  Mt. 
Vernon  Street  a  place  of  extraordinary 
vogue  and  exclusiveness ;  but  the  butterflies 
of  fashion  have  now  taken  wing  to  other 
regions.  On  the  right,  as  you  descend, 
is  a  group  of  eight  or  ten  tall,  bow-fronted 
mansions  set  considerably  back  from  the 

19 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

sidewalk,  each  with  its  grass  plot  and  or 
nate  iron  fence.  This  semi-retirement 
gives  an  indescribable  air  of  dignity  and 
richness,  and  strangers  always  gaze  upon 
them  with  admiration. 

"  Mr.  Aldrich's  house,  No.  59,  is  the 
second  of  this  group.  It  is  particularly 
noticeable  by  reason  of  its  doorway  of 
white  marble  framework  and  Grecian  pil 
lars  set  into  the  brick,  a  curious  and  strik 
ing  arrangement.  From  the  steps,  one  can 
see  the  blue  waters  of  the  Charles,  that 
omnipresent  river  in  and  around  Boston, 
and  the  long  curve  of  Back  Bay  houses, 
whose  rear  view  is  that  of  the  water.  A 
son  of  George  Bancroft,  the  historian,  is 
Mr.  Aldrich's  next-door  neighbour,  and 
beyond  him  recently  has  lived  ex-Governor 
Claflin.  On  the  other  side  of  the  street, 
and  not  quite  so  far  down,  is  the  house  of 
the  Honourable  Robert  Treat  Paine.  It 
20 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  neighbour 
hood  still  has  distinction,  even  if  the  blaze 
of  fashion  has  been  extinguished. 

"  The  interior  of  this  fine  old  mansion 
is  entirely  in  keeping  with  its  outside  no 
bility.  If  one  enters  on  such  an  errand 
as  that  which  called  the  writer  of  this 
chronicle  to  it,  he  gets  a  moment's  impres 
sion  of  a  richly  furnished  drawing-room, 
where  a  fire  of  logs  is  burning  in  a  cheer 
ful  blaze,  and  a  gray  African  parrot  is  en 
joying  a  place  of  honour,  a  large  hall,  a 
great  circular  stairway  sweeping  its  broad 
spiral  to  the  very  top  of  the  house,  vistas 
of  beautiful  rooms  at  each  landing,  and, 
at  last,  on  the  fourth  floor,  the  t  den  '  of 
the  poet,  the  true  abiding-place  of  an  au 
thor  at  home. 

"  This  room  is  large,  but  not  too  much 
so  to  be  inviting  and  comfortable,  and  it 
has  its  fireplace,  like  all  the  others.  From 

21 


LITERAEY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

its  bow-windows  a  splendid  panorama  of 
the  southwestern  part  of  Boston,  domi 
nated  by  the  campanile  of  the  Providence 
Station,  greets  the  eye.  At  night  myriad 
lights  give  the  view  still  greater  beauty. 
From  the  roof  of  the  house,  the  islands 
of  the  harbour  can  be  seen,  and  even  the 
sea  beyond,  for  at  this  point  one  finds  him 
self  as  high  as  the  dome  of  the  capitol. 

"  The  noticeable  feature  of  this  snug 
gery  is  its  antique  furniture,  —  escri 
toires,  chairs,  and  tables  that  would  make 
a  collector  green  with  envy.  Nothing 
here,  with  the  exception  of  two  immense 
modern,  velvet-cushioned  rockers  and  a 
large  centre  desk,  is  of  later  date  than 
1812.  This  furniture  forms  part  of  the 
valuable  heritage  its  owner  derived  from 
his  grandfather,  who  lived  in  Portsmouth, 
—  the  veritable  grandfather  of  the  hero  of 
that  delightful  classic,  '  The  Story  of  a 
22 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Bad  Boy,'  which  (and  the  reader  may 
take  *  Tom  Bailey's '  word  for  it)  is  auto 
biographic  and  true  in.  its  essential  ele 
ments. 

"  The  centre  desk  was  once  owned  by 
Charles  Sumner,  and  was  used  by  him  for 
many  years.  In  various  odd  corners  are 
half  a  hundred  things  picked  up  all  over 
the  world,  such  as  Buddhist  deities,  Ara 
bian  gems,  and  a  very  valuable  piece  of 
Moorish  tiling  from  the  walls  of  Alham- 
bra.  There  are  book-shelves  in  plenty, 
of  course,  and  a  semi-literary  collection 
of  pipes  on  a  curious  table  at  one  of  the 
windows.  Good  pictures  hang  on  the  red- 
toned  walls,  although  to  the  bookman  the 
most  interesting  object  of  that  sort  is  an 
old  print  of  Doctor  Johnson,  framed  with 
an  autograph  letter  of  that  worthy." 

To  quote  from  Roswell  Field  once  more : 
"  I  fancy  that  one  of  the  pleasantest  of 

23 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

the  surprises  that  await  the  pilgrim  in 
Boston  is  the  appearance  in  the  flesh  of 
the  poets,  novelists,  and  story-writers 
whom  he  has  long  associated  with  the 
silent  tomb.  It  gives  you  a  little  shock  at 
first,  but  you  are  soon  used  to  it,  and  I 
should  not  be  surprised  at  any  time  to  see 
old  Ben  Franklin  come  out  of  a  bookstore, 
or  to  meet  Anne  Bradstreet  at  a  literary 
bargain  counter.  Those  of  us  who  are 
influenced  by  the  sweet  teachings  of  the- 
osophy,  meeting  certain  authors  on  the 
streets  of  Boston,  would  be  tempted  to 
exclaim :  '  What  incarnation  is  this  ? '  We 
remember  that  far  back  in  the  shadowy 
days  of  our  childhood  we  read  their 
printed  words  and  exulted  in  the  ebulli 
tion  of  their  fancy.  The  years  have  come 
and  gone,  the  ancient  elms  have  decayed 
and  fallen,  the  friends  of  our  youth  have 
been  '  tolled  out '  by  the  village  church, 
24 


LITEKARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

and  our  old  authors  have  been  mourned, 
if  not  forgotten.  Now,  to  our  amazement, 
down  on  Cornhill,  or  in  the  Old  Corner 
Bookstore,  or  around  the  bargain  street 
stalls  prances  the  cheerful  instructor  of 
boyhood,  a  little  disfigured,  perhaps,  by 
time,  but  good  for  half  a  dozen  tomes  at 
short  notice." 

Among  these  older  writers  are  Colonel 
Higginson,  Mrs.  Howe,  John  T.  Trow- 
bridge,  Edward  Everett  Hale,  and  Heze- 
kiah  Butterworth. 

Colonel  Higginson  was  born  and  nur 
tured  in  the  literary  atmosphere  of 
Cambridge.  "  My  earliest  documentary 
evidence  of  existence  on  this  planet," 
says  he,  in  "  Cheerful  Yesterdays,"  "  is 
a  note  to  my  father  in  Edward  Everett's 
exquisite  handwriting,  inquiring  after  the 
health  of  the  babe,  and  saying  that  Mrs. 
Everett  was  putting  up  some  tamarinds 

25 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

to  accompany  the  note.  The  precise  ob 
ject  of  the  tamarinds  I  have  never  clearly 
understood,  but  it  is  pleasant  to  think 
that  I  was,  at  the  tender  age  of  seven 
months,  assisted  toward  maturity  by  this 
benefaction  by  so  eminent  a  man.  Pro 
fessor  Andrews,  Norton  and  George  Tick- 
nor  habitually  gave  their  own  writings; 
and  I  remember  Doctor  J.  G.  Palfrey 
bringing  to  the  house  a  new  book,  Haw 
thorne's  '  Twice-Told  Tales/  and  reading 
aloud  '  A  Rill  from  the  Town  Pump.' 
Once,  and  once  only,  Washington  Irving 
came  there,  while  visiting  a  nephew  who 
had  married  my  cousin.  Margaret  Fuller, 
a  plain,  precocious,  overgrown  girl,  but  al 
ready  credited  with  unusual  talents,  used 
to  visit  my  elder  sister,  and  would  some 
times  sit  at  my  mother's  feet,  gazing  up 
at  her  with  admiration.  A  younger  sis 
ter  of  Professor  Longfellow  was  a  fre- 
26 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

quent  guest,  and  the  young  poet  himself 
came  in  the  dawning  of  yet  undeveloped 
fame.  My  special  playmate  was  Charles 
Parsons,  and  I  often  *  tumbled  about  in  a 
library  '  —  indeed,  the  very  same  library 
where  the  autocrat  had  himself  performed 
the  process  he  has  recommended.  Under 
these  circumstances,"  adds  Colonel  Hig- 
ginson,  and  I  am  sure  we  all  agree  with 
him,  "  it  seems  very  natural  that  a  child 
thus  moulded  should  have  drifted  into  a 
literary  career." 

Colonel  Higginson  has  not  always  lived 
in  Cambridge.  He  made  a  distinguished 
record  in  the  Civil  War,  gaining  the  title 
of  the  "  Fighting  Parson."  Before  that, 
he  was  a  clergyman,  and  preached  in  New- 
buryport,  and  presided  over  a  parish  in 
Worcester,  but  his  mind  is  of  too  liberal 
frame  to  be  satisfied  with  creed  and 
dogma,  and  he  left  the  ministry  many 

27 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

years  ago,  settling  in  Cambridge,  where 
he  owns  a  picturesque  house  on  Bucking 
ham  Street,  filled  with  books,  and  in  neigh 
bourly  proximity  to  the  best  "  University 
set  "  and  the  scenes  where  his  happy  boy 
hood  was  passed.  In  the  summer,  he  takes 
his  wife  and  daughter  (with  whom  he 
lives  an  exceptionally  harmonious  life) 
up  to  the  beautiful  town  of  Dublin,  N.  H., 
where  he  owns  another  charming  home. 
Mrs.  Higginson  (who  was  a  niece  of  Pro 
fessor  Longfellow's  first  wife)  writes  oc 
casionally  some  excellent  verses,  which  are 
printed  in  the  leading  magazines  and  have 
been  published  in  two  volumes;  and  the 
young  daughter,  just  blossoming  into 
young  womanhood,  is  proving  her  title  to 
be  the  intellectual  successor  of  such  a 
father  and  mother. 

Colonel  Higgin  son's  best  literary  work 
has  been  done  in  his  later  years,   as  he 
28 


THOMAS    WENTWORTH    HIGG1NSOX 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

has  had  more  leisure  for  it.  His  earlier 
life  was  filled  with  the  duties  peculiar 
to  the  philanthropist  and  reformer,  and 
in  the  stress  of  this  work  there  was  little 
time  or  opportunity  for  cultivating  the 
quieter  art  of  letters.  The  form  in  which 
his  writings  have  been  presented  is  a  fig 
urative  one,  but  his  memoirs  of  early  days, 
and  his  rambles  in  art,  literature,  and 
native  lore  have  been  mellow  with  ripe 
scholarship  and  a  matured  mind.  His 
natural  force  has  hardly  abated,  but  the 
reminiscent  mood  is  obviously  passing 
upon  him,  and  the  gentle  afterglow  wins 
us  to  gather  round  "  old  tales  to  hear." 

"  It  is  a  long  career,  in  our  rapid 
times,"  writes  one  of  Colonel  Higginson, 
"  this  span  of  seventy-five  years.  The  bi 
ographer  of  Margaret  Fuller  Ossoli  is  the 
discreet  and  sympathetic  critic  of  Kipling 
and  Stephen  Crane.  The  dreamy  pas- 

29 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

torals  of  '  Oldport  Days '  alternate  with 
the  passionate  advocacy  of  woman's  rights. 
Minister,  soldier,  legislator,  lecturer,  au 
thor,  historian,  poet,  philanthropist,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find  in  any  great 
city  of  our  great  country  a  man  whose 
leadership  has  been  so  potent  for  right 
eousness,  for  beauty,  for  truth,  as  that  of 
Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson." 


CHAPTER   II. 


EDWARD   EVERETT   HALE   AND    JULIA   WARD 
HOWE    AND    HER    FAMILY 


y^NOTHER  survivor  of  the  great 
y^f  literary  epoch  of  the  middle  nine 
teenth  century  is  the  venerable  and 
well-beloved  Reverend  Doctor  Edward 
Everett  Hale,  who,  although  an  octogena 
rian,  is  still  mentally  keen  and  active,  with 
powers  which  give  no  sign  of  decadence, 
and  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  youth. 
Erom  his  years  and  his  wide,  eclectic  ex 
periences,  Doctor  Hale  may  well  be  given 
the  position  of  the  dean  of  Boston's  liter 
ary  set.  And  this  not  alone  from  the 

31 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

length  of  life  which  has  been  accorded 
him,  and  his  varied  and  important  achieve 
ments,  but  from  the  sincere  and  active  in 
terest  which  he  takes  in  those  who  are 
making  letters  a  profession,  and  his  special 
kindness  to  beginners.  There  is  no  young 
literary  worker,  whose  good  fortune  it  has 
been  to  have  Doctor  Hale  as  counsellor  and 
friend  in  the  days  when  effort  was  new, 
and  the  path  of  endeavour  almost  untried, 
who  does  not  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to 
the  man  who  never  withheld  merited  en 
couragement,  who  was  always  ready  with 
needed  advice,  and  who  softened  criticism 
with  kindly  suggestion. 

Time  and  the  Hour,  which,  during  its 
brilliant  but  all  too  short  existence,  was  a 
component  part  of  literary  Boston,  said 
of  Doctor  Hale: 

"His  is  a  comfortable,  bookish,  thor 
oughly  New  England  home,  with  many 
32 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

interesting  family  memorials  and  pictures, 
especially  rich  in  the  records  of  the  life 
and  work  of  the  father  whom  he  loved  so 
reverently,  and  to  whom  he  attributes  so 
much  of  his  power  and  resource.  A  pecu 
liar  genial  hospitality  —  not  of  the  cere 
monious  kind,  but  the  heart  hospitality  of 
an  elder  brother  —  greets  the  guest  at  that 
household  in  old  Roxbury,  the  name  to 
which  Doctor  Hale  has  always  clung,  as 
indeed  have  most  of  the  old  residents,  in 
spite  of  annexation,  and  the  effort  to  make 
the  locality  known  as  c  Boston  Highlands.' 
"  No  host  could  convey  so  cordially  the 
sense  that  a  visitor  had  a  right  to  the  de 
mand  which  is  made  upon  that  valuable 
time,  so  valuable  that  it  would  be  hedged 
about  by  most  men  with  the  barriers  of 
transmitted  cards  and  the  formalities  of 
servant's  messages.  One  feels  that  shaggy 
royalty  is  condescending  to  his  need  or 

33 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

his  desire,  yet  most  unconscious  of  it, 
simple,  loving,  wistfully  entreating  almost. 
There  is  a  childish  heart  under  that  fine 
presence  which  is  so  leonine,  compelling, 
and  impressive." 

April  third,  1822,  was  the  birthday  of 
Edward  Everett  Hale,  Boston  boy,  Latin 
School  boy,  Harvard  graduate  of  1839. 
He  was  no  prodigy,  but  was  warmly  sand 
wiched  between  six  brothers  and  sisters; 
having  the  middle  place,  he  was  protected 
from  those  external  influences  which  may 
affect  the  oldest  or  the  youngest,  —  pro 
tected,  yet  set  in  keen  competition  with  a 
bright  family,  and  having  to  keep  his  end 
up  or  go  under. 

In  his  class  he  kept  a  similar  middle 
place,  ninth  among  fifteen,  and,  though  he 
mastered  his  paradigms  at  six,  and  put 
"  Robinson  Crusoe  "  into  Latin  at  nine, 
he  was  a  healthy  boy  among  boys,  leaning 
34 


EDWARD    EVERETT    HALE 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

on  others,  and  drawing  from  others,  as 
he  always  has  done,  —  the  child  in  the 
middle  reaching  out  on  both  sides,  having 
no  liking  for  extremes,  mingling  the  hot 
Hale  blood  and  the  calm  Everett  strain 
in  a  tide  which  has  flowed  full  and  strong, 
but  never  boisterous,  through  its  brim 
ming  banks. 

Doctor  Hale  served  in  the  ministry  in 
Washington  for  a  year  or  two,  choosing 
that  profession  because  it  offered  so  much 
of  active  moral  and  philanthropic  oppor 
tunity  ;  then  he  was  stationed  in  Worcester 
for  ten  years,  where  he  is  still  gratefully 
and  affectionately  remembered  in  many 
ways,  but  particularly  as  the  founder  of 
its  public  library.  It  is  almost  half  a 
century  since  he  was  installed  pastor  of 
the  South  Congregational  Church  of  Bos 
ton,  and  he  is  still  pastor  emeritus,  al 
though  the  parochial  duties  are  performed 

35 


LITEKAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

by  his  successor  in  active  work,  and  as  the 
recognised  incumbent,  the  Reverend  Doc 
tor  Edward  Cummings. 

But  he  has  not  belonged  exclusively  to 
the  South  Congregational  Society.  He  has 
always  stoutly  maintained  that  to  give 
one's  self  fully  to  any  particular  work, 
to  make  the  gift  really  great,  one  must 
enlarge  one's  self  by  the  widest  service 
which  intensifies  the  man  and  makes  him 
able  to  present  a  worthy  offering.  So  he 
has  had  a  planetary  influence  through  his 
institution  of  "  Ten  Times  One  is  Ten," 
of  Wadsworth  Clubs  and  Lend  a  Hand 
Clubs  all  over  the  world,  in  every  sort  of 
philanthropic  work,  economic,  social,  and 
industrial. 

Developing  a  broad  humanity  through 
environment,  heredity,  and  training,  and 
animated  by  the  spurring  spirit  of  an  in 
tense  moral  enthusiasm,  it  was  natural 
36 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

that  Doctor  Hale  should  be  a  patriot,  and 
that  he  should  write  "  A  Man  Without  a 
Country."  He  has  won  international 
reputation  for  breadth  of  view,  simplicity 
of  doctrine,  and  for  rare  qualities  as  an 
organiser  and  a  preacher.  Underlying 
and  permeating  his  varied  labours  has 
glowed  an  intense  patriotism  which  com 
pletes  his  merited  distinction  as  a  great 
American.  Tested  by  any  standard  by 
which  we  are  accustomed  to  measure  men, 
Doctor  Hale  commands  our  respect  and 
admiration.  In  his  private  life,  personal 
character,  and  public  services,  he  exem 
plifies  the  very  highest  type  of  manhood. 
His  literary  work  has  been  stupendous, 
reaching  to  fifty  volumes,  and  ten  times 
fifty  volumes  in  uncollected  articles,  stud 
ies,  and  sermons.  He  has  caught  the  pop 
ular  fancy,  as  few  purely  literary  men 
have,  done,  with  "  My  Double,  and  How 

37 


LITEEAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

He  Undid  Me  "  and  "  The  Man  Without 
a  Country,"  but  these  are  only  unconsid- 
ered  trifles  in  the  bibliography  of  the  pro 
lific  author  who  is  delighting  everybody 
with  the  reminiscences  of  his  rich  ac 
quaintance  with  men  and  things,  the 
expression  of  a  ripe  mind,  full  without 
prolixity,  liberal  without  garrulity,  and 
instructive  without  pedantry. 

Previous  to  settling  down  to  ministerial 
work,  he  served  his  father  as  secretary, 
and  also  an  apprenticeship  in  his  news 
paper  office,  —  the  old  Boston  Advertiser, 
—  from  the  work  of  typesetting  to  editing. 
It  was  a  question  for  a  time  which  profes 
sion  he  would  choose,  and  he  ultimately 
took  the  ministry.  The  journalistic  in 
stinct  has  been  always  strong  within  him, 
but  he  has  had  to  keep  it  in  check,  or  he 
would  have  been  compelled  to  give  up 
everything  else  for  it. 
38 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

Before  everything  else  Doctor  Hale  is  a 
Bostonian  of  Bostonians,  of  full  value  lo 
cally,  a  circumstance  which  makes  him  not 
alone  the  minister,  the  philanthropist,  the 
author,  but  the  good  citizen.  And  it  was 
as  the  citizen,  beloved  and  revered,  that 
Boston  honoured  him  on  the  third  of 
April,  1902,  on  the  occasion  of  his  eighti 
eth  birthday. 

If  Doctor  Hale  is  the  dean  of  literary 
Boston,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  is  the 
recognised  leader  and  acknowledged  sov 
ereign.  She  reigns  over  her  kingdom  with 
an  undisputed  sway,  and  her  subjects  are 
all  loyal  and  loving,  giving  willing  homage 
to  their  uncrowned  queen. 

And  yet  Boston  cannot  wholly  claim 
her,  any  more  than  it  can  others  of  its 
famous  ones.  As  one  has  said  in  writing 
of  the  group  of  immortals  of  whom  Mrs. 
Howe  is  one :  "  In  reckoning  with  the 

39 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

famous  people  of  Boston,  it  is  striking  to 
note  that  so  many  of  them  are  not  merely 
of  local  importance,  but  are  recognised  as 
leaders  by  the  whole  country.  And  there 
are  few  cities  in  the  United  States  where, 
if  the  question  were  asked  in  a  group  of 
its  most  intelligent  women,  who  was  their 
representative  champion,  the  reply  would 
not  be  —  Julia  Ward  Howe." 

Although  Mrs.  Howe  has  reached  the 
ripe  age  of  eighty-three,  there  is  none  of 
the  suggestion  of  the  decay  which  years  are 
supposed  to  bring.  With  her,  youth  is 
perennial,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that,  living 
under  the  gracious  influence  of  this  rich 
life,  her  daughter  so  caught  the  spirit  of 
it  that  she  remarked,  on  the  occasion  of 
her  mother's  seventieth  birthday,  that  she 
was  "  seventy  years  young."  It  was  a 
happy  phrase,  and  it  has  clung  to  her  ever 
since,  and  when  any  one  speaks  of  Mrs. 
40 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Howe's  age,  they  always  count  the  years 
by  youth  and  not  by  age. 

And  so  while  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  is 
now  eighty-three  years  "  young,"  she  is  by 
no  means  out  of  the  activities  of  life,  but 
it  still  a  power  and  an  inspiration,  and  is 
an  earnest,  zealous  worker  in  the  great 
movements  of  the  day.  Whether  she  is 
holding  meetings  at  her  house  in  the  in 
terest  of  universal  peace,  or  writing  books, 
she  is  the  same  busy,  active  woman  of 
years  ago. 

Everybody  knows  something  about  Mrs. 
Howe  in  a  general  way,  for  her  "  Battle 
Hymn  of  the  Republic "  has  made  her 
name  a  household  word  in  America. 
Thousands  have  seen  her  on  the  platform, 
and  heard  her  speak  on  some  of  the 
subjects  connected  with  philanthropy  or 
reform,  with  which  she  is  so  closely  iden 
tified.  As  many  more  have  seen  her  oc- 

41 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

cupying  that  position  familiarly  known 
as  "  the  chair  " ;  but  only  the  compara 
tively  favoured  few  know  her  as  she  is 
in  private  life.  Only  those  who  know  her 
well  are  familiar  \vith  that  delightful 
spirit  of  delicate,  sparkling  humour,  and 
the  flashes  of  pure,  kindly,  genuine  wit, 
which  characterise  her  intercourse  with 
friends.  There  is  nothing  more  delightful 
than  to  listen  to  a  tilt  of  words  between 
Mrs.  Howe  and  her  old  friend,  Colonel 
Higginson,  a  treat  that  is  now  and  then 
vouchsafed  to  their  associates  of  the  Au 
thors'  Club,  of  which  Mrs.  Howe  is  pres 
ident  and  Colonel  Higginson  first  vice- 
president. 

The  members  of  the  famous  New  Eng 
land  Woman's  Club  know,  too,  an  alto 
gether  different  side  of  her  from  that 
which  the  general  public  know.  In  her 
capacity  as  president  of  that  club,  she 
42 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

feels*  as  perfectly  at  home  as  in  her  own- 
parlour;  and  those  who  are  to  be  trusted 
say  that  in  no  other  place  does  her  woman 
liness,  her  ready  tact,  her  brilliant  wit, 
and  her  versatility  of  talent  shine  forth 
so  conspicuously.  In  her  Boston  home, 
Mrs.  Howe  has  welcomed  the  most  noted 
men  and  women  of  the  day,  both  of  this 
and  of  foreign  countries,  and  her  recep 
tions  have  always  been  the  meeting-place 
of  the  choicest  spirits,  literary,  musical, 
artistic,  and  scientific. 

Outside,  her  house  on  Beacon  Street, 
numbered  241,  presents  a  plain,  unosten 
tatious  front,  like  all  its  neighbours;  but 
once  ushered  into  the  little  reception-room 
at  the  left  of  the  front  door,  the  visitor 
realises  that  he  is  in  the  home  of  rare 
culture  and  refinement,  the  residence  of 
one  who  has  travelled  much,  and  who  has 
brought  something  of  value  and  interest 

43 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

from  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  atmos 
phere  of  plain,  almost  severe  intellectual 
ity,  the  fine  etchings,  rare  curios,  antique 
busts  and  artistic  statuettes,  the  replicas 
of  famous  marbles,  all  testify  to  this. 
And  if  he  is  fortunate  enough  to  be  bidden 
to  the  drawing-room  up-stairs,  or,  better 
yet,  to  the  "  den  "  or  music-room  back  of 
it,  his  first  impression  is  deepened.  In 
this  room,  besides  all  the  treasures  gath 
ered  in  a  lifetime  of  travel,  is  a  fine 
bust  of  Doctor  Howe,  and  Porter's  superb 
painting  of  Mrs.  Howe's  youngest  daugh 
ter,  Maud  Howe,  at  eighteen. 

But  the  charm  of  this  house  is  the  mis 
tress,  and  when,  presently,  the  visitor  is 
greeted  by  the  small  but  self -poised,  white- 
haired  woman,  who  advances  with  cordial 
hospitality  to  meet  him,  he,  like  all  the 
rest  of  those  who  are  privileged  to  meet 
her  in  this  intimate,  unconventional  fash- 
44 


LITEEARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

ion,  succumbs  to  the  rare  personal  charm 
of  this  world-famous  woman;  so  that  he 
goes  away  with  one  vital  impression,  that 
of  a  serenely  gracious  personality  endowed 
with  a  mellow,  musical  voice,  and  a  rare 
charm  of  manner,  an  impression  which 
crystallises  into  a  cherished  memory. 

Julia  Ward,  daughter  of  Samuel  and 
Julia  Rusk  (Cutler)  Ward,  was  born  on 
May  twenty-seventh,  1819,  at  her  parents' 
house  in  the  Bowling  Green,  New  York 
City,  a  place  which  carries  one  back  in 
mind  to  the  old  Knickerbocker  days,  and 
the  rule  of  gruff  old  Peter  Stuyvesant. 
Later  her  father  built  an  elegant  and  spa 
cious  house  at  the  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Bond  Street,  a  long  way  up-town  at 
that  time,  and  there  her  youth  was  passed. 
This  delightful  home  was  frequented  by 
the  best  people  in  the  metropolis,  and 


45 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

there  were  three  beautiful  girls  in  the 
family  to  make  its  hospitality  irresistible. 
In  April,  1843,  when  she  was  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  she  was  married  to  Doc 
tor  Samuel  Gridley  Howe,  whom  she  had 
met  during  frequent  visits  to  Boston, 
where  she  was  warmly  welcomed  into  the 
literary  and  artistic  circle,  of  which  Doc 
tor  Howe  was  a  member.  With  him  she 
shortly  visited  Europe.  Doctor  Howe  was 
at  that  time  the  head  of  the  famous  Mas 
sachusetts  School  for  the  Blind  at  South 
Boston,  and  his  success  in  teaching  Laura 
Bridgman  had  made  his  name  well  known 
all  over  the  world,  so  that,  when  the  young 
couple  arrived  in  London,  they  found  the 
doors  of  the  best  houses  open  to  them.  On 
the  Continent  it  was  the  same,  for  there 
his  fame  as  a  worker  among  the  unfor 
tunate  ones  of  the  world  was  supplemented 


46 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

by  his  efforts  for  Greece  and  the  liberties 
of  its  people. 

They  passed  the  winter  on  the  Conti 
nent,  mostly  in  Rome,  where,  the  next 
spring,  their  first  child,  Julia  Romana, 
was  born.  This  child  was  baptised  by 
Theodore  Parker,  who  was  the  warm 
friend  of  both  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Howe, 
and  she  grew  up  to  be  a  sympathiser  with 
her  father  in  his  work  for  the  blind,  and, 
in  time,  she  became  a  teacher  at  the  insti 
tution.  Later  she  became  a  student  of 
philosophy,  and  was  the  founder  of  the 
Metaphysical  Club,  of  which  she  was  the 
president,  and  whose  meetings  ceased  at 
her  death,  in  March,  1884.  She  was  the 
author  of  a  volume  of  poems  entitled 
"  Stray  Chords,"  and  of  a  sketch  of  the 
Summer  School  of  Philosophy  at  Concord, 
Mass.,  entitled  "  Quaestor  Philosophise." 
She  was  married,  on  the  thirtieth  of  De- 

47 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

cember,  1870,  to  Michael  Anagnos,  for 
merly  of  Greece,  who  succeeded  Doctor 
Howe  as  superintendent  of  the  Perkins 
School  for  the  Blind.  When  she  died, 
there  was  universal  mourning  all  through 
Boston,  where  she  was  especially  beloved. 
She  was  a  rarely  beautiful  woman,  with 
a  face  from  which  a  pure  soul  seemed 
ever  shining. 

On  the  return  of  the  Howes  to  Amer 
ica,  they  made  a  home  at  South  Boston, 
and  there  the  other  four  of  their  children 
were  born.  But,  later,  when  the  eldest 
of  the  children  were  old  enough  to  enter 
society,  they  removed  to  Boston,  living 
for  some  years  at  17  Boylston  Place, 
when  that  little  no-thoroughfare  was 
noted  for  the  famous  and  brilliant  coterie 
which  was  found  within  its  pocket-like 
limits.  From  there  they  removed  to 
Mount  Vernon  Street,  when  the  character 
48 


UTERATCY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

of  the  place  began  to  change,  but  since 
the  death  of  Doctor  Howe,  Mrs.  Howe 
has  made  her  winter  home  at  her  present 
residence  in  Beacon  Street,  of  which 
the  equity  was  given  her  by  her  brother, 
the  late  Samuel  Ward,  of  New  York. 
She  spends  her  summers  at  "  Oak  Grove," 
near  Newport,  where  far  from  the  bustle 
and  fuss  of  the  ultra  fashionable  crowd 
she  lives  a  genuine  country  life,  and  rules 
with  a  firm  hand,  as  gentle,  however,  as 
it  is  firm,  the  unique  "  Town  and  Coun 
try  Club,"  which  is  as  delightful  a  mix 
ture  of  swells  and  idealists  as  was  ever 
gotten  together,  and  which  could  only  be 
assimilated  by  Mrs.  Howe. 

Mrs.  Howe's-  literary  work  has  been 
constant,  and  she  is  still  busy  with  her 
pen.  She  has  published  four  volumes  of 
poems,  a  life  of  Margaret  Fuller,  two  or 
three  volumes  of  essays,  two  of  travel, 

49 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

"  From  the  Oak  to  the  Olive  "  and  "  A 
Trip  to  Cuba,"  a  play,  "  Leonora,"  and, 
latest  of  all,  her  delightful  "  Reminis 
cences."  Her  "  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Re 
public  "  is  the  most  widely  known  of  all 
that  she  has  written,  and  is  one  of  the 
few  American  classics.  Those  persons 
who  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  hear  her 
recite  it  in  her  clear,  exquisitely  modu 
lated  voice,  and  with  her  absorbed,  ear 
nest,  almost  inspired  air,  always  feel  that 
they  have  gained  an  insight  into  its  pa 
triotic  and  religious  sentiments  not  vouch 
safed  to  the  readers  of  it. 

Mrs.  Howe  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  New  England  Women's  Club  in 
1868,  and  has  been  its  president  ever  since 
its  first  ruler,  Mrs.  Caroline  Severance, 
left  Massachusetts  for  California,  early 
in  the  seventies.  No  one  else  will  hold  the 
office  so  long  as  Mrs.  Howe  lives.  She  was 
50 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

one  of  the  first  officers  for  the  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Women,  and  has 
been  for  a  long  time  its  president.  She  is 
the  honorary  president  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  and 
was  its  first  active  president.  She  is  also 
president  of  the  Boston  Authors'  Club. 
Her  continuous  good  health  she  attributes, 
in  part,  to  her  habits  of  study,  and  daily, 
yet  never  excessive,  brain  labour. 

She  has  visited  Europe  six  times,  Cal 
ifornia  and  the  Pacific  coast  twice,  and 
made  several  journeys  to  the  West  Indies, 
and  even  now  she  thinks  nothing  of  start 
ing  off  West  or  South  on  a  lecture  engage 
ment,  making  less  fuss  over  it  than  many 
a  younger  woman  would  do. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  Mrs.  Howe's  family 
is  a  remarkable  one.  Her  four  daughters 
have  all  proven  literary  workers  of  more 
than  average  ability,  while  her  only  son 

51 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

is  a  distinguished  scientist,  and  also  a 
clever  writer  on  special  lines  upon,  which 
he  is  an  acknowledged  authority. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  her 
oldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Anagnos.  Her  sec 
ond  daughter  was  Florence  Marion  Howe, 
now  Mrs.  Hall,  known  in  literature  and 
club  work  as  Florence  Howe  Hall.  She 
is  the  author  of  "  Social  Customs  "  and 
"  The  Correct  Thing,"  and  she  is  a  prom 
inent  speaker  before  women's  clubs.  She 
was  married  November  fifteenth,  1871,  to 
David  Prescott  Hall,  a  man  noted  for  his 
public  spirit,  and  a  member  of  the  New 
York  Bar. 

Mrs.  Howe's  only  son  was  born  in  1848, 
and  is  named  Henry  Marion.  He  grad 
uated  from  Harvard  University  in  1869, 
and  from  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology  in  1871.  He  then  studied 
abroad,  and  lived  in  Europe,  South  Amer- 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ica,  and  in  various  mining  districts  in 
North  America  before  settling  down  in 
New  York,  where  he  holds  a  professorship 
in  the  School  of  Mines  of  Columbia  Uni 
versity.  In  his  profession  of  mining  en 
gineer  and  expert,  he  has  won  high 
honours,  and  has  an  international  repu 
tation.  His  book  on  "  The  Metallurgy  of 
Iron  and  Steel  "  is  an  exhaustive  work, 
which  has  received  the  highest  praise  from 
the  scientific  world,  arid  is  accepted  as 
authoritative. 

There  are  few  families  where  there  are 
children  in  which  "  Captain  January " 
has  not  been  read  and  loved,  but  not  every 
one  knows  that  the  author,  Laura  E.  Rich 
ards,  is  the  third  daughter  of  Mrs.  Julia 
Ward  Howe.  Mrs.  Richards  has  written 
some  of  the  most  delightful  nonsense 
verses  for  children  that  have  ever  seen 
light  on  a  printed  page,  and  it  is  no  won- 

53 


LITEEARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

der  that  her  name  is  a  household  word  in 
many  families.  She  was  married  June 
seventeenth,  1871,  to  Henry  Richards, 
and  the  young  couple  went  to  live  in  Gar 
diner,  Maine,  a  town  named  for  the  fam 
ily  of  Mr.  Richards's  mother. 

The  youngest,  by  some  years,  of  Mrs. 
Howe's  daughters  is  Mrs.  Maud  Howe 
Elliott,  who  inherits,  to  a  marked  degree, 
her  mother's  wit,  graciousness  of  manner, 
and  social  gifts,  as  well  as  much  of  her 
genius  of  expression.  She  was,  in  her 
girlhood,  regarded  as  a  beauty  and  a  belle, 
and  she  is  a  rarely  beautiful  woman,  more 
than  fulfilling  the  promise  of  her  girl 
hood.  Society  did  not  satisfy  her,  any 
more  than  it  had  satisfied  her  mother,  and 
she  soon  turned  her  attention  to  more  seri 
ous  pursuits.  After  studying  art  for  some 
time,  she  adopted  literature  as  a  career. 
Her  published  works  are  "  A  Newport 
54 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Aquarelle,"  "  Atalanta  in  the  South," 
"  San  Rosario  Ranch,"  "  Phyllida,"  and 
"  Mammon."  She  has  for  several  seasons 
given  parlour  readings  with  marked  suc 
cess,  talking  chiefly  upon  art  and  litera 
ture.  She  was  married  in  February,  18 87, 
to  Mr.  John  Elliott,  an  Englishman  and 
an  artist.  Their  home  is  in  Rome,  al 
though  they  spend  much  time  in  Boston 
with  Mrs.  Howe. 

And  so  Mrs.  Howe  is  not  only  the  fa 
mous  woman  of  letters,  the  accomplished 
speaker,  the  leader  among  women,  but  she 
is  also  the  happy,  proud  mother  of  a  group 
of  children  who  put  to  naught  the  old 
saying  that  the  children  of  famous  parents 
never  amount  to  much  in  themselves;  and 
besides  these  children,  she  has  a  number 
of  promising  young  grandchildren,  who 
are  sure,  in  time,  to  do  honour  to  their 
illustrious  ancestress. 

55 


CHAPTEK    III. 

MRS.     JAMES     T.     FIELDS,     SARAH     ORNE 
JBWETT,    AND    ALICE    BROWN 


X^vNE  of  the  houses  that  often  shel- 
I  M  tered  that  rare  group  of  men  who 
made  literary  Boston  famous  dur 
ing  the  early  part  of  the  last  half  of  the 
century  just  passed  is  still  the  resort  of 
the  favoured  few,  and  it  is  to-day  consid 
ered  a  mark  of  high  esteem,  and  an  hon 
our,  to  be  asked  to  the  home  of  Mrs.  James 
T.  Fields. 

"  When   the   social   quarter   of   Boston 
was   squeezed   and   pressed   upon   by   the 
growth  of  business,"  said  Time  and  the 
56 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Hour,  "  so  that  Summer  Street  and  Frank 
lin  Street,  West  and  Bedford,  Winter  and 
Tremont  Streets  were  no  longer  tolerable 
for  dwelling-places,  it  was  a  problem 
where  it  should  find  a  new  development. 
At  this  time,  the  water-front  on  the 
Charles  offered  itself  as  a  pleasant  place 
for  a  fresh  start,  and  fine  rows  of  stately 
mansions  were  soon  built,  with  a  quiet 
street  for  a  frontage  and  the  river  in  the 
rear.  Doctor  Holmes  occupied  one  of 
them,  and  not  far  away  Mr.  James  T. 
Fields,  his  friend  and  publisher,  set  up 
his  household  gods. 

"  The  old  settlers,  or  their  children, 
have  almost  all  migrated  to  the  newer 
Back  Bay  now,  the  district  with  accom 
modations  for  stepping  westward  to  the 
sunset,  and  Charles  Street  has  become  a 
thoroughfare  for  the  most  heavy,  creak 
ing,  rattling  traffic  of  the  town,  while  a 

57 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

part  of  the  water  view  has  been  cut  off 
by  stealing  a  further  strip  of  land  from 
the  river,  and  interposing  Brimmer  Street. 
Not  so  at  148  Charles  Street,  however. 
The  uproar  and  the  jangle  rage  before  this 
house  front  as  well  as  before  all  the  others 
in  the  street,  but,  when  one  is  admitted 
into  Mrs.  James  T.  Fields's  home,  and 
passing  up  the  stairs,  is  seated  in  the 
drawing-room,  with  its  westward  windows, 
he  looks  over  a  calm  expanse  of  water  be 
yond  a  quiet  garden,  which  might  be  the 
neighbour  of  an  outlying  rural  wilder 
ness.  In  later  spring,  perhaps  after  the 
evening  meal,  the  company  may  ramble 
through  its  walks  and  shrubberies,  or  seek 
the  benches  along  the  water's  edge,  and 
quite  forget  that  only  a  few  rods  separate 
them  from  the  sordid  sounds  and  sights- 
of  a  busy  town.  Boccaccio's  garden 
scarcely  echoed  to  more  wit  and  wisdom 
58 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

than  has  that  pretty  plot  of  ground, 
pressed  by  the  feet  of  Dickens,  Thackeray, 
Longfellow,  Lowell,  Whittier,  Holmes, 
Hawthorne,  Emerson,  and  all  the  immor 
tals  of  the  last  generation." 

In  the  midst  of  treasures  of  every  kind, 
pictures,  autographs,  mementoes  of  fa 
mous  singers  and  writers,  speakers  and 
actors  of  the  time;  in  the  midst  of  mem 
ories  far  more  varied  and  infinitely  richer, 
lives  the  votaress  of  this  sacred  shrine,  and 
ministers  to  the  favoured  few  who  are  its 
intimates  with  delicate  grace. 

One  of  the  red-letter  days  of  the  au 
thor's  own  life  was  marked  by  a  simple 
luncheon  at  148  Charles  Street,  when  the 
only  other  guest  was  Miss  Sarah  Orne 
Jewett,  and  they  were  served  by  Mrs. 
Fields  with  the  rare  grace  of  an  old-time 
gentlewoman.  She  is  as  quiet  in  dress  as 
she  is  in  manner  and  speech,  and  with 

59 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

smoothly  banded  hair  half  concealing  her 
ears,  in  the  fashion  which  our  grand 
mothers  followed  half  a  century  ago,  she 
dispenses  tea  and  hospitality,  seasoned 
with  conversation  that  has  a  flavour  unex 
celled.  Gentle,  quiet,  and  reserved  as  are 
the  motions  of  her  daily  life,  there  is  no 
power  in  Boston  to-day  like  that  of  Mrs. 
Fields ;  for  influence  is  still  not  altogether 
a  matter  of  shouting,  or  of  fonts  of  type, 
but  goes  out  with  a  power  to  leaven  all 
things,  which  will  not  be  understood  until, 
from  the  other  side  of  the  warp  and  woof, 
the  pattern  woven  into  the  life  fabric  is 
seen. 

Mrs.  Fields  was  the  wife  of  James  T. 
Fields,  the  famous  Boston  publisher,  who 
was  the  medium  of  communication  and 
even  of  introduction  between  the  galaxy 
of  literary  stars  in  Boston  between  1850 
and  1880,  and  who  established  and  pub- 
60 


LITEEARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

lished  The  Atlantic  Monthly.  She  is  still 
continuing  her  literary  work,  which  has 
always  been  of  a  high  order,  though  not 
at  all  prolific.  She  has  written  "  A  Shelf 
of  Old  Books,"  "  How  to  Help  the  Poor,'' 
"  Memoirs  of  James  T.  Fields,"  "  Whit- 
tier:  Notes  of  His  Life  and  Friendship," 
"  Authors  and  Friends,"  "  Under  the 
Olive,"  "The  Sighing  Shepherd  and 
Other  Poems." 

But  it  is  in  the  world  of  philanthropic 
work  that  she  finds  her  highest  pleasure. 
At  the  council-table  in  "  Ward  Seven's  " 
office  in  the  Chardon  Street  Charity  Build 
ing  of  Boston  Mrs.  Fields  has  sat  since 
the  organisation  of  the  Associated  Char 
ities,  and  has  borne  a  large  part  in  the 
general  directorship,  besides,  from  the  be 
ginning.  If,  as  has  been  said,  Mr.  Robert 
Treat  Paine  is  the  head,  so  is  Mrs.  Fields 
the  heart  of  the  great  movement,  for,  in- 

61 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

deed,  it  has  a  heart,  and  a  warm  one.  Do 
the  critics,  who  fancy  there  is  no  personal 
quality  left  in  the  statistical  development 
of  the  Associated  Charities,  know  of  the 
personal  family  work  that  is  done  that 
never  finds  a  place  in  formal  reports? 
How  surprised  those  persons  who  fancy 
there  is  only  a  tabulating  engine  in  Char- 
don  Street  would  be  to  know  what  num 
bers  of  personal  exigencies  by  day  and  by 
night  call  for  assistance,  sympathy,  and 
advice,  which  is  never  denied.  And  all 
through  the  long  summer,  Mrs.  Fields 
takes  the  long  journey  to  the  heated  town 
almost  daily  from  her  Manchester-by-the- 
Sea  cottage,  in  order  that  she  may  be  al 
ways  ready  for  the  needs  of  her  poor 
friends. 

It  is  a  delightful  part  of  this  task  to 
recognise  that  so  much  of  the  best  work 


62 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

in  the  world  is  unheralded  and  unnoted, 
and  yet  that  the  workers  will  grow  "  fa 
mous  "  while  shunning  publicity,  and  fol 
lowing  the  path  of  duty  with  unconscious 
steps  and  a  singleheartedness  of  purpose. 
One  cannot  think  of  Mrs.  Fields  with 
out  remembering  her  most  intimate  friend, 
Sarah  Orne  Jewett,  whose  winters  are, 
for  the  most  part,  passed  in  the  Charles 
Street  home.  Sometimes  in  the  spring 
the  two  go  off  together  in  search  of  a  spot 
not  favoured  with  so  many  kinds  of  cli 
mate  as  Mark  Twain  ascribed  to  New 
England  during  one  twenty-four  hours. 
And  in  the  summer  Miss  Jewett  is  found 
for  some  portion  of  the  time  at  Mrs. 
Fields's  home  at  Manchester-by-the-Sea. 
Boston  may  surely  be  pardoned  for  count 
ing  Miss  Jewett  as  belonging  to  her,  since 
her  winter  residence  is  in  the  classic 


63 


LITERARY   BOSTON   OF   TO-DAY 

Fields  home  in  Charles  Street,  while  her 
big  dog  gives  his  dumb  but  sympathetic 
companionship  to  the  two  gentlewomen. 

Miss  Jewett  is  a  woman  of  the  most 
charming  personality.  She  has  a  bright, 
piquant  face  that  lights  up  wonderfully 
as  she  talks,  making  her  positively  beau 
tiful,  and  a  low,  pleasant  voice  that  gives 
the  listener  the  sense  of  being  quiet  at 
night,  and  listening  to  the  rustle  of  aspen 
leaves,  soothing  and  restful.  Her  black 
hair  shows  just  the  faintest  tinge  of  gray, 
but  the  colour  in  the  cheeks  and  the  sparkle 
of  the  eye  tell  the  tale  of  youth. 

Her  friendship  with  the  Fields  began 
when  she  was  a  young  girl,  and  is  a  vital 
part  of  her  life's  history.  During  her 
girlhood  she  met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fields  at 
a  friend's  house,  where  they  were  visit 
ing,  and  then  began  the  intimacy  which 
has  grown  into  such  a  rare  and  close 
64 


SARAH    ORXK    ,TE\VETT. 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

friendship.  As  the  years  went  on,  and  the 
demand  for  Miss  Jewett's  work  increased, 
she  found  so  much  visiting  and  writing 
incompatible.  And  so  when  the  invita 
tions  came  which  made  her  stay  with  the 
Fields  less  like  visiting,  and  more  like 
being  at  home,  she  very  gladly  accepted 
the  arrangement.  Indeed,  she  would  have 
been  most  unappreciative  had  she  not ;  for 
to  be  the  favoured  guest  of  a  woman  like 
Mrs.  Fields  is  a  privilege  that  can  be 
accorded  but  to  few. 

Miss  Jewett's  working  hours  are  in  the 
afternoon,  and  when  she  has  anything  in 
hand  she  writes  from  one  until  about  five. 
She  says  that  she  thinks  best  in  the  waning 
of  the  day,  and  finds  work  easier.  She 
writes  on  an  average  between  three  and 
four  thousand  words  daily,  although  she 
has  sometimes  gone  as  high  as  eight  and 
even  nine  thousand  words  in  one  day. 

65 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

She  usually  thinks  out  her  stories  quite 
carefully  before  beginning  to  write,  so  that 
when  it  comes  to  transcribing  them  she 
can  do  it  easily  and  without  much  rewrit 
ing,  although,  of  course,  some  of  her  sto 
ries  she  works  at  quite  laboriously. 

"  There  are,"  she  says,  "  stories  that 
you  write,  and  stories  that  write  them 
selves  in  spite  of  you.  And  I  find  that 
these  are  the  ones  that  do  not  need  much 
working  over." 

Fond  as  she  is  of  her  pleasant  relations 
in  the  Charles  Street  home,  she  loves  her 
country  life  with  a  true  devotion  that  only 
a  genuine  nature  worshipper  can  appre 
ciate.  Says  she: 

"  I  never  feel  prouder,  or  have  more 
the  sense  of  owning  and  being  owned,  than 
when  some  old  resident  of  Berwick  meets 
me,  and  says,  '  You're  one  of  the  doctor's 
girls,  ain't  ye  ? '  It  makes  me  feel  as 
66 


LITERAEY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

though  that  were  really  my  place  in  the 
world." 

Miss  Jewett  was  born  in  a  fine  old 
colonial  mansion  that  was  built  in  1740. 
It  is  situated  in  the  village  of  Berwick, 
Maine,  not  far  from  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
and  is  still  her  home.  Her  father,  "  The 
Country  Doctor,"  died  some  years  since, 
and  her  mother  followed  him  a  few  years 
later.  She  and  one  sister  continue  to  oc 
cupy  the  homestead  during  most  of  the 
year,  while  a  married  sister  lives  close 
by.  Sarah  Orne  Jewett  always  lived  an 
out-of-door  life,  riding,  driving,  and  row 
ing.  When  her  father  was  living  she  went 
about  with  him  a  great  deal,  and  that  was 
the  way  in  which,  without  realising  what 
the  experience  was  to  prove  to  her,  she 
got  her  marvellous  insight  into  the  lives 
of  the  country  people  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago.  Before  Miss  Jewett's  day, 

67 


LITEEARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

no  writer  could  exactly  picture  the  phases 
of  country  life  which  she  depicts  without 
making  a  burlesque  of  the  attempt.  It 
has  taken  Miss  Jewett  to  show  the  world 
that  the  country  dialect  and  country  ways 
hide  some  of  the  noblest  hearts. 

"  When  I  was,  perhaps,  fifteen,"  said 
Miss  Jewett,  "  the  first  city  boarders  be 
gan  to  make  their  appearance  near  Ber 
wick;  and  they  so  misunderstood  the 
country  people,  and  made  such  game  of 
their  peculiarities,  that  I  was  fired  with 
indignation.  I  determined  to  teach  the 
world  that  country  people  were  not  the 
awkward,  ignorant  set  that  those  persons 
seemed  to  think.  I  wanted  the  world  to 
know  their  grand,  simple  lives;  and  so 
far  as  I  had  a  mission,  when  I  first  began 
to  write,  I  think  that  was  it.  But  now, 
when  every  village  has  its  city  visitors  in 
the  summer,  and  the  relations  between 
68 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

the  city  and  country  are  so  much  closer 
than  they  used  to  be,  there  is  no  need  of 
my  '  mission.' ' 

Miss  Jewett's  paternal  ancestors  were 
Tories  — "  mistaken  but  honest,"  she 
says.  Her  grandfather  was  an  old  sea- 
captain,  and,  as  she  quaintly  puts  it, 
"  seemed  to  me  a  citizen  of  the  whole 
geography."  Her  mother  was  a  Oilman 
of  Exeter,  notable  people  in  the  neigh 
bourhood,  and  with  an  honourable  record 
in  the  Revolution.  The  town  of  Berwick 
had  plenty  of  sea-captains  when  she  was 
a  little  girl,  and,  in  seeing  them,  and  hear 
ing  them  discuss  with  her  grandfather  the 
world  in  general,  she  laid  up  material  for 
many  of  her  delightful  character  sketches. 

Her  first  story  for  the  Atlantic  was  ac 
cepted  before  she  was  twenty.  She  had 
no  literary  friends  at  court,  and  it  was 
her  own  inimitable  work  which  won  for 

69 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

her  the  success  which  has  been  so  marked. 
She  was  a  delicate  child,  and  could  never 
endure  the  confinement  of  the  schoolroom, 
so  her  education  was,  for  the  most  part, 
obtained  at  home  under  the  wise  direction 
of  her  father.  Miss  Jewett  says  that  she 
has  missed  a  certain  logical  directness 
that  comes  only  with  training  at  good 
schools;  but  she  would  not  have  lost  the 
outdoor  life  and  the  close  association  with 
her  father  for  anything.  Probably  her 
success  as  a  writer  was  due  to  her  father's 
advice,  constantly  repeated,  and  which 
she  has  closely  followed,  —  "  Don't  try  to 
write  about  people  and  things;  tell  of 
them  as  they  are." 

A  recent  reviewer  in  the  Boston  Tran 
script  says  of  her  New  England  idyls: 
"  Who  can  forget  her  marsh  meadows, 
her  sand-dunes,  her  pine-grown  seashore  ? 
Her  people  are  mostly  thriving,  unper- 
70 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

plexed,  cheerful  New  England  people. 
Somehow  the  New  England  type  has  come 
to  be  as  novel  and  conventional  as  is  the 
figment  of  '  Uncle  Sam/  which  has  long 
ceased  to  have  any  significance  whatever. 
Nobody  ever  saw  these  dreary  lunatics, 
who  are  said  to  drag  out  hard  and  narrow 
lives,  set  to  a  perpetual  minor  key,  as  typ 
ical  of  New  England  villages.  Miss  Jew- 
ett  shows  us  youth  and  love  and  happiness 
under  the  pale  blue  skies  of  New  England, 
with  quaint  peculiarities  —  having  the  one 
touch  of  nature.  After  all,  though  we 
may  laugh  over  sharp  wit  and  droll  situa 
tions  and  pitiable,  grotesque  scrapes  of  all 
kinds,  the  sensation  which  is  left  on  our 
minds  is  not  happy.  Miss  Jewett  is  pro 
foundly  and  uniformly  cheerful,  and 
makes  the  reader  so.  Is  not  the  world, 
for  most  of  us,  too  full  of  inharmonies  to 
permit  the  mind  to  be  burdened  with  more 

71 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

of  them,  with  no  compensating  advan 
tages?  Let  the  artists  answer  each  other 
with  the  ghastly  products  of  art  for  art's 
sake.  But  let  us  be  jolly,  with  Miss  Jew- 
ett's  pleasant  companions,  while  we  may." 

Of  course,  the  contrasts  referred  to  are 
the  stories  of  Miss  Wilkins,  whose  char 
acters  are  so  decidedly  opposite  to  Miss 
Jewett's  always  lovable,  sensible,  and  alto 
gether  natural  ones.  Miss  Wilkins  may 
•be  depended  on  to  give  us  interesting  peo 
ple,  but  are  they  not  exceptional  types, 
odd,  queer,  unknown  characters,  the  like 
of  whom  we  seldom  see  ?  For  the  average 
New  Englander  of  the  country  is  cheerful 
and  hopeful,  an  optimist  ever. 

Since,  however,  Miss  Wilkins  has  now 
become  Mrs.  Freeman,  and  gone  to  live 
in  New  Jersey,  Boston  can  no  longer 
strain  a  point  and  claim  her,  even  for  pur 
poses  of  comparison  with  Miss  Jewett. 
72 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

By  the  way,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  Miss 
Jewett  keeps  a  sentence  from  Flaubert 
pinned  up  as  a  motto  over  her  desk :  "  Ce 
n'est  pas  de  faire  rire,  ni  de  faire  pleurer, 
ni  de  vous  metter  en  fureur  .  .  .  mais 
d'agir  a  la  f agon  de  la  nature  —  c'est  a 
dire,  de  faire  rever." 

Another  writer  along  the  same  lines  as 
Miss  Jewett  and  Miss  Wilkins  is  Miss 
Alice  Brown,  the  daughter  of  Reverend 
Theron  Brown,  who  for  many  years  was 
one  of  the  editors  of.  the  Youth's  Compan 
ion.  Miss  Brown's  stories  are  mostly  oc 
cupied  with  New  Hampshire  life,  and  her 
"  Meadow-Grass "  was  like  a  whiff  of 
White  Mountain  air  to  the  city  dwellers 
of  country  origin.  It  is  said  of  her  that 
she  does  not  write  enough,  and  that  the 
public  buy  eagerly  what  she  does  publish, 
and  wait  for  more.  Perhaps  she  is  wise 
in  her  moderation.  She  is  her  own  most 

73 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

severe  critic,  and  will  not  publish  a  story 
until  she  is  satisfied  with  it  herself.  She 
is  always  sane  and  healthy,  and,  as  she 
is  yet  of  the  age  described  by  interviewers 
as  "  still  young,"  we  may  expect  many 
good  things  from  her  in  future.  Miss 
Brown  lives  on  Pinckney  Street,  in  a  very 
quiet  way,  and  only  semi-occasionally 
does  one  meet  her  at  social  and  public 
functions. 

She  was  fortunate  in  a  childhood  spent 
amid  the  rural  beauty  of  the  little  New 
Hampshire  town  of  Hampton  Falls. 
Here  she  went  daily  to  district  school,  with 
rapturous  interludes  of  merry  outdoor 
life ;  and  says  a  recent  writer :  "  Those 
who  hold  like  memories  in  their  heart 
of  hearts  may  open  t  Meadow-Grass '  at 
'  Number  Five/  that  a  waft  from  Balm 
of  Gilead  leaves  may  return  to  them,  and 
they  may  drink  once  more  of  fresh  un- 
74 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

speakable  delight  in  the  small  and  simple 
joys  of  a  country  child." 

Later  she  studied,  and  was  graduated 
at  the  seminary  in  the  neighbouring  town 
of  Exeter,  taking  the  long  walk  to  and 
from  home  lightly,  as  forerunner  of  the 
glorious  English  tramps  of  later  days. 
Like  many  another  New  England  girl, 
she  first  turned  to  school-teaching  as  the 
most  natural  occupation;  but  the  call 
toward  literary  activities  would  have  its 
way,  and  she  has  never  wavered  in  her 
devotion  to  the  beautiful  profession. 

Miss  Brown  loves  the  old  streets  of  Bos 
ton  as  well  as  Madame  de  Stael  did  Paris, 
but  there  lingers  always  in  her  work  the 
still  spiciness  of  the  woodland  ways,  the 
sympathy  with  soft-footed,  bright-eyed, 
furry  things.  Especially  is  this  present 
in  the  little  book  of  poems  called  "  The 


75 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Road  to  Castaly."     Witness  "  Pan,"  and 
the  dewy-fresh  "  Morning  in  Camp." 

The  famous  Meadow-Grass  stories  are 
probably  the  best  known  of  Miss  Brown's 
books.  "  Tiverton  Tales  "  are  stories  of 
the  same  region,  humourous,  spirited,  read 
able.  "  King's  End  "  is  a  delightful  story 
of  New  Hampshire  village  life.  "  By 
Oak  and  Thorn  "  is  a  pleasant  record  of 
leisurely  gipsy  ish  pilgrimages  through 
rural  England  in  company  with  her  friend 
Louise  Imogen  Guiney.  She  has  also 
written  a  life  of  Mercy  Otis  Warren,  and 
a  short  novel  called  "  The  Day  of  His 
Youth."  Her  latest  novel,  "  Margaret 
Warrener,"  is  a  story  of  Bohemian  Bos 
ton,  and  a  marked  departure  from  the 
lines  laid  down  by  her  previous  work. 


76 


CHAPTER   IV. 


rHERE  must  of  necessity  be  a  cen 
tre,  a  focus,  a  point  of  radiation 
for  every  special  group,  whether 
of    \vorkers    in   civic    affairs,    in    philan 
thropy,  in  art,  science,  or  literature;  and 
for  many  years  the  centre  of  literary  Bos 
ton  has  been  located  in  the  drawing-room 
in  Mrs.  Louise  Chandler  Moulton's  house 
in  Rutland  Square. 

Rutland  Square  is  in  Boston's  unfash 
ionable  South  End,  and  is  one  of  the 
quiet,  shaded  places,  with  the  typical  Bos- 

77 


LITEEARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ton  swell-front  houses,  ivy-clad,  of  which 
Matthew  Arnold  said :  "  Why  should 
Fashion  be  permitted  to  wield  such  an 
insolent  influence  against1  the  beautiful 
spaces  with  their  lovely  residences  and  air 
of  repose  and  refinement?  If  these 
squares  were  in  London,  they  would  be 
the  dwelling-places  of  the  best  people, 
those  who  would  seek  them  for  their 
beauty,  and  not  be  left  to  the  tender  mer 
cies  of  the  lodging-house  keepers." 

Possibly  the  fact  that  she  passes  so 
much  time  in  London,  and  in  England 
generally,  has  brought  Mrs.  Moulton  to 
the  standpoint  of  the  famous  Englishman, 
so  that  she  rises  superior  to  Fashion  and 
her  dictates.  At  any  event,  she  has  re 
mained  steadfast  in  her  loyalty  to  the 
home  which  she  has  occupied  since  the 
time  when  the  South  End  was  the  fash 
ionable  quarter,  before  the  Back  Bay  had 
78 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

been  reclaimed  from  water  and  marsh. 
Possibly,  too,  she  still  lingers  there  with 
out  giving  much  thought  to  the  matter, 
because  everybody  comes  to  her,  so  that, 
as  a  friend  once  said :  "  She,  in  a  manner, 
creates  her  own  geography,  and  is  more 
important  in  herself  and  her  own  power 
of  attraction  than  any  mere  accident  of 
residence  could  make  her.  In  brief,  a  pole 
of  such  attraction  exists  in  Mrs.  Moulton's 
parlours  that  it  must  be  very  near  the 
true  magnet." 

Be  that  as  it  may,  she  has  seen  street 
after  street  built  up  in  the  section  which 
Fashion  now  claims  for  her  own,  and 
friend  after  friend  has  taken  the  way 
westward,  while  she  still  remains  at  No. 
28  Rutland  Square,  a  house  which  is 
world-famous.  Thither  all  the  best  of  the 
town,  —  those  who  have  achieved  any 
thing  worth  while  in  letters,  in  art,  in 

79 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

science,  those  who  are  young  in  achieve 
ment,  but  full  of  high  courage  and  worthy 
ambitions,  together  with  the  literary  or 
artistic  "  stranger  within  the  gates,"  turn 
their  steps  every  Friday  afternoon  of  the 
winter.  For  she  keeps  open  house  then, 
and  the  only  invitation  needed  is  the  cor 
dial  "  Come  and  see  me  any  Friday  after 
noon;  I'm  always  at  home,"  spoken  in  a 
most  convincing  tone,  and  with  an  air  of 
sincerity  which  plainly  says :  "  I  ask  you 
because  I  really  want  you." 

And  when  the  invitation  is  accepted, 
she  greets  the  visitor  with  gracious  wel 
coming  and  a  calm,  serene,  beaming 
benignity.  But  the  chief  charm,  the 
irresistible  attraction  about  her,  is  the 
strong  personal  interest  which  she  shows 
to  every  guest. 

Not  every  one  is  asked  to  come;  there 
are  no  indiscriminate  invitations,  and, 
80 


LITEKAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

with  all  the  cordial  hospitality,  there  are 
also  reserves.  But  to  those  who  are  of  the 
elect,  the  hostess  has  always  some  special, 
personal  token  of  consideration. 

In  London,  where  Mrs.  Moulton  spends 
every  summer,  she  receives  as  she  does  at 
home,  and  shares  in  the  more  sober  gaie 
ties  of  the  few  weeks  of  the  fullest  life  on 
earth,  to  which  everything  interesting 
gravitates  as  by  natural  law.  She  is  quite 
as  fully  appreciated  over  there  as  in  her 
own  Boston,  and  from  a  literary  stand 
point,  even  more  highly  rated  —  if  that  be 
possible  —  than  she  is  in  her  native  land. 
The  English  magazines  are  always  eagerly 
in  competition  with  those  of  America  for 
her  exquisite  poems  and  her  graceful  and 
kindly,  but  just  and  compelling,  criti 
cisms.  Her  weekly  receptions  in  Gros- 
venor  Square  call  together  all  the  great 
literary  world  of  London,  the  famous 

81 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Americans  who  are  by  chance  in  the  city, 
and  many  members  of  England's  nobility 
as  well.  It  is  said  of  her  that  she  has 
maintained  on  both  sides  of  the  water  the 
nearest  approach  to  the  literary  salon 
that  is  now  in  existence. 

Although  Boston  claims  her  as  a  resi 
dent,  and  has  done  so  for  many  years,  she 
is  from  Connecticut  by  birth.  Among  the 
hills  of  Eastern  Connecticut,  in  the  lovely 
little  town  of  Pomfret,  was  one  day  born, 
in  a  pleasant  farmhouse,  a  sweet  girl  baby, 
with  wonderful  blue  eyes  and  golden  hair. 
There  was  no  other  baby  there ;  she  had  no 
rival,  and  she  reigned  supreme  over  the 
home.  By  and  by  the  baby  grew  into  a 
girl,  dreamy,  enthusiastic,  and  ambitious. 
She  knew  that  there  was  a  future  before 
her  somewhere  outside  the  country  home, 
and  she  determined  to  find  it.  While 
still  a  schoolgirl,  she  was  busy  with  her 
82 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

pen,  writing  little  scraps  of  prose  and  bits 
of  verse,  which  found  their  way  into  the 
columns  of  a  little  Connecticut  paper, 
published  in  a  town  near  Pomfret,  of 
which  Edmund  C.  Stedman,  then  a  very 
young  man,  giving  promise  of  what  he 
has  since  attained,  was  the  editor.  He 
took  a  lively  interest  in  this  blue-eyed 
girl's  welfare,  and  encouraged  her  to  con 
tinue  her  literary  work,  and  advised  her 
concerning  her  future.  The  friendship 
thus  begun  between  the  young  editor  and 
his  schoolgirl  contributor  has  always  con 
tinued,  and  no  one  has  been  more  pleased 
with  her  success  and  the  position  which 
she  has  attained  than  this  early  friend  and 
adviser. 

Even  as  a  schoolgirl  of  thirteen,  she 
wrote  so  delightfully  that,  on  one  occasion, 
her  master  asked  her  if  the  idea,  as  well 
as  the  verse,  was  really  all  her  own,  and 

83 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

on  her  replying,  "  I  can't  tell  from  where 
I  got  it.  I  never  knew  there  was  any 
thing  like  it  in  the  world.  Surely  it  came 
from  my  own  mind,"  his  face  brightened, 
as  he  replied :  "  Then  I  sincerely  congrat 
ulate  you." 

At  fourteen  her  first  poem  was  accepted 
and  printed,  and  she  recalls  her  sensations 
in  first  seeing  something  of  her  own  in 
print :  "  I  remember  how  secretly,  and  al 
most  as  if  it  were  a  crime,  I  sent  it  in ; 
and  when  I  found  the  paper  one  evening, 
upon  calling  at  the  post-office  on  my  way 
home  from  school,  and  saw  my  lines,  — 
my  very  own  lines,  —  it  seemed  to  me  a 
much  more  wonderful  and  glorious  event 
than  has  anything  since  that  time." 

The   name   by   which   the   public   first 

knew  her  was  not  Louise  Chandler  Moul- 

ton,  but  Ellen  Louise  Chandler,  although 

the   name   under  which   her   poems   and 

84 


LOUISE    CHANDLER    MOULTON 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

stories  appeared  was  simply  "  Ellen  Lou 
ise."  Possessed  of  a  wonderful  imagina 
tion  and  a  delicate  yet  vivid  power  of 
description,  before  long  she  began  weaving 
her  fancies  into  romances  that  were  pub 
lished  in  many  of  the  popular  magazines 
and  weekly  story  papers.  People  read 
those  stories,  and  wondered  who  "  Ellen 
Louise  "  was,  but  it  was  not  until  her  first 
book  was  published  that  the  world  was 
told. 

This  book,  a  volume  of  short  stories 
gathered  together  by  the  young  writer  at 
the  suggestion  of  friends,  was  called 
"This,  That,  and  the  Other,"  and  was 
heralded  by  her  publishers  with  a  loud 
blast  of  trumpets.  "  See  what  a  girl  of 
eighteen  can  do,"  was  the  heading  of  all 
their  advertisements,  and  so  many  persons 
wanted  to  see  that  eighteen  thousand 
copies  were  speedily  disposed  of.  The 

85 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

popular  verdict  was  favourable.  To  be 
sure  there  were  extravagances,  and  a  lack 
of  finish  due  to  the  youth  of  the  writer, 
but  it  was  written  with  all  a  girl's  exu 
berance  and  fancy,  and  was  a  success, 
perhaps  not  so  much  for  what  it  was,  as 
for  what  it  promised. 

Soon  after  its  appearance,  she  was  mar 
ried  to  Mr.  William  U.  Moulton,  the 
editor  and  publisher  of  a  Boston  paper 
to  which  she  was  a  frequent  contributor, 
and  after  her  marriage  Boston  became  her 
home.  She  did  not  lay  her  pen  by,  how 
ever,  but  continued  steadily  at  work,  im 
proving  constantly  in  her  work.  She  was 
a  careful  writer,  and  a  thorough  worker; 
she  was  annoyed  at  any  seeming  awkward 
ness  of  expression,  and  did  not  rest  until 
she  had  made  it  smooth  and  finished  in 
every  particular.  With  all  this  pains 


86 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

backing  up  her  ability,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  she  was  recognised  as  one  of  the  lead 
ing  poets  of  the  country. 

But  she  was  the  critic  as  well  as  the 
poet  and  story-writer.  For  several  years 
she  was  the  literary  correspondent  from 
Boston  for  the  New  York  Tribune,  and 
her  dictum  of  a  book  settled  its  fate.  Her 
opinion  was  widely  quoted,  and  it  was  con 
sidered  final.  She  was  the  kindliest  of 
critics,  for  when  she  could  not  praise,  she 
was  so  gentle  in  her  dispraise  that  it  did 
not  hurt,  although  it  might  grieve  the  un 
lucky  writer.  At  the  time  she  was  send 
ing  her  brilliant  letters  to  the  Tribune, 
Boston  was  furnishing  her  ample  material. 
The  "  Atlantic  group "  were  all  living 
and  active,  the  famous  Radical  Club  was 
flourishing,  the  Lyceum  was  in  the  height 
of  its  glory,  making  a  centre  for  all  the 
men  and  women  who  made  the  lecture 

87 


LITERARY  BOSTON  OF  TO-DAY 

platform  one  of  the  most  brilliant  places 
in  existence.  Anna  Dickinson  was  in  the 
full  floodtide  of  her  wonderful  career. 
Mrs.  Livermore,  just  from  her  work  in  the 
Sanitary  Commission,  was  talking  about 
the  war.  Wendell  Phillips,  Gough,  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  Charles  Sumner,  were  all 
before  the  public  as  speakers,  and  Boston 
was  headquarters  for  all  of  them.  And 
nearly  all  found  their  way  to  the  pleasant 
drawing-room  in  Rutland  Square.  Later, 
Mrs.  Moulton  transferred  her  work  of 
criticism  to  the  Boston  Herald,  in  which 
paper  her  article  was  for  a  long  time  a 
marked  feature.  For  a  few  years  past 
she  has  devoted  herself  almost  entirely  to 
poetry,  and  has  had  several  volumes  pub 
lished. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  Mrs.  Moul 
ton   from   that   which    she   gives   to   the 
public.    She  is  a  loyal  and  devoted  friend, 
88 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and  one  of  the  kindest  and  most  helpful 
women  in  all  the  world  of  letters.  Free 
from  everything  which  savours  in  the 
least  of  jealousy,  she  is  most  hospitable 
in  her  welcome  to  young  people  who  are 
entering  with  timid,  untried  steps  the  field 
of  literary  endeavour. 

Some  years  ago  a  young  woman  came  to 
Boston  to  enter  upon  a  life  of  literary 
activity.  She  brought  a  letter  of  introduc 
tion  to  Mrs.  Moulton  from  a  relative  of  the 
latter,  and  presented  it  with  a  good  deal 
of  timidity.  Her  reception  was  most  cor 
dial.  Not  only  did  the  distinguished 
woman  accord  hei*  a  warm  personal  wel 
come,  but  she  arranged  that  she  should 
meet  others  who  would  be  of  service  to 
her.  She  examined  her  work,  and  gave 
her  the  suggestions  and  advice  which 
proved  of  the  greatest  possible  service  to 
the  ambitious  young  country  girl.  TJn- 

89 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

doubtedly  all  this  has  passed  from  the 
mind  of  Mrs.  Moulton,  but  the  woman  has 
never  forgotten,  and  regards  her  with  a 
feeling  of  affection  and  reverence  that  she 
accords  to  no  other. 

This  is  only  one  instance  out  of  many. 
She  has  met  discouragement  with  cheer, 
has  averted  threatened  failure,  by  showing 
the  way  which  pointed  to  success.  Her 
purse  has  been  open  to  those  who  needed, 
and  her  heart  has  never  been  closed  to  the 
call  for  sympathy.  She  has  given  her 
service  and  her  substance  to  all  sorts  of 
charity.  And  so  the  world  not  only  ad 
mires  her  as  the  graceful  story-teller,  the 
keen  but  kindly  critic,  the  genuine  poet, 
but  loves  her  as  the  woman,  and  regards 
it  an  honour  as  well  as  a  pleasure  to  be 
bidden  to  her  home,  where  in  her  dainty 
drawing-room  she  is  surrounded  with  the 
souvenirs  of  travel,  and  the  autographed 
90 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

photographs  of  the  distinguished  persons 
who  are  proud  to  call  her  friend. 

We  have,  too,  a  granddaughter  of  a 
famous  ancestor  in  whom  Boston  takes 
pride,  although  she  sends  us  her  books 
from  over  the  sea,  —  Mrs.  Helen  Choate 
Prince.  Rufus  Choate,  who  contained 
within  his  intense  being  fire  and  fancy 
enough  to  transmit  to  a  hundred  genera 
tions,  had  a  fine  romantic  vein,  and  in  the 
third  generation,  the  Boston  maiden,  who 
grew  up  like  the  other  girls  of  her  circle, 
and  passed  on  to  marriage,  and  to  reside 
in  France,  as  any  of  them  might  have 
done,  bore  in  her  brain  an  inheritance 
which  was  to  be  developed  amidst  great 
conditions,  and  strengthened  and  enliv 
ened  by  stimulating  surroundings  to  de 
light  a  large  number  of  readers. 

Mrs.  Prince's  novels  have  not  been 
merely  sketches  of  character  and  incident, 

91 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

smart  dialogue,  epigrams,  the  play  of  sec 
ondary  or  tertiary  motives,  elaborate 
efforts  to  analyse  insignificant  things. 
She  writes  with  an  old-fashioned  motif, 
but  not  a  moral,  which  is  a  different  thing. 
Mrs.  Prince  brings  the  American  and 
French  types,  which  she  understands  so 
well,  into  interesting  contrast.  As  some 
body  has  said :  "  It  is  not  the  Cook's  tour 
ist  and  the  Parisian  cockney  whom  she 
sets  over  against  one  another.  Mrs. 
Prince's  Americans  are  only  Europeans 
of  the  same  class,  vivified  and  ardent." 
Mrs.  Prince  was  born  in  Dorchester  in 
1857,  and  educated  at  private  schools  in 
Boston.  For  the  past  ten  years  she  has 
lived  in  France,  with  occasional  visits  to 
America,  extending  over  several  months. 
Her  most  famous  books  have  been  "  A 
Trans-Atlantic  Chatelaine,"  "The  Story 


92 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

of    Christine    Rochefort,"    and    "  At   the 
Sign  of  the  Silver  Crescent" 

Although  Miss  Edna  Dean  Proctor 
lives  in  South  Framingham,  when  she  is 
not  travelling  abroad,  she  belongs  to  the 
Boston  Authors'  Club,  and  is  considered 
a  part  of  literary  Boston.  Miss  Proctor's 
poems,  of  which  she  has  published  several 
volumes,  have  placed  her  in  the  very  front 
rank  of  American  poets.  Personally  she 
is  a  charming  woman  of  great  beauty  and 
a  winning  friendliness  of  manner.  It  is 
an  honour  to  know  Miss  Proctor,  and  es 
pecially  so  to  be  counted  her  friend. 


93 


CHAPTER    V. 

MARGARET  DELAND,  ELIZABETH  STUART 
PHELPS  WARD,  HERBERT  D.  WARD,  HAR 
RIET  PRESCOTT  SPOFFORD 

ANOTHER  name  of  which  the  Bos- 
y~i    ton  of  to-day  is  very  proud  is  that 
of  Margaret  Deland.    She  is  a  na 
tive  of  Pennsylvania,  hut  came  to  Boston 
as  a  bride  in  1880,  and  has  done  all  her 
literary  work  here.      So  many  romantic 
stories  have  been  told  of  the  way  she  came 
to  take  up  literary  work  that  it  may  be 
well  to  give  the  tale  as  the  author  herself 
tells  it. 

Just   previous   to   a   Christmas   in   the 
early  eighties,  Mrs.  Deland  went  shopping 
94 


LITERARY   BOSTON"    OF   TO-DAY 

one  morning,  and  during  her  expedition 
purchased  a  unique  trifle  to  send  to  a  dis 
tant  friend,  carrying  it  with  her  from  the 
shop  to  the  market,  for  she  has  always 
"  looked  well  to  the  ways  of  her  house 
hold,"  and  is  a  notable  housekeeper  as 
well  as  writer.  On  the  horse-car  she  fell 
a-thinking  of  this  friend  and  of  the  gift 
she  proposed  sending,  and  thus  musing, 
thought  out  a  little  verse  —  to  her  own 
astonishment,  as  she  had  never  attempted 
to  write  a  rhyme  before.  Lest  she  forget 
it,  she  scribbled  the  verse  on  the  bundle 
she  was  carrying.  On  her  way  to  her 
house,  she  stopped  for  a  few  minutes'  chat 
with  her  friend,  Miss  Lucy  Derby  (now 
Mrs.  Fuller),  whose  eye  happened  to  fall 
on  the  scribbled  words  on  the  parcel. 

"What  is  this?"  asked  Miss  Derby. 
Mrs.  Deland,  in  some  confusion,  con 
fessed  to  having  perpetrated  her  first 

95 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

poem,  whereupon  Miss  Derby  insisted 
upon  reading  the  verse,  and  immediately 
became  enthusiastic  over  this  evidence  of 
talent  in  her  friend.  She  spoke  so  en 
couragingly  that  she  fired  the  young 
writer  with  a  new  purpose,  and  Mrs.  De- 
land  went  home  to  try  her  hand  at  verse- 
making.  When  she  showed  her  more 
serious  attempts,  a  few  days  later,  to  Miss 
Derby,  the  latter  felt  justified  in  her  ex 
travagant  praise,  and,  borrowing  the 
poems,  carried  them  home  and  surrep 
titiously  submitted  them  to  several  pub 
lishers.  When,  after  a  few  weeks,  a  check 
came  for  fifteen  dollars  from  a  prominent 
New  York  publisher,  Mrs.  Deland  could 
scarcely  credit  her  senses,  and  she  would 
not  cash  the  check  for  some  time,  her  pride 
in  it  was  so  great.  So  there  you  have  the 
whole  romantic  story  in  a  nutshell.  An 
appreciative  publisher,  a  budding  genius, 
96 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

a  generous  press  —  and  success.  Her 
book  of  poems,  "  An  Old  Garden  and 
Other  Verses,"  sold  very  rapidly,  and  en 
couraged  the  young  author  to  set  about 
the  serious  business  of  novel-writing. 
How  well  she  succeeded  in  this  everybody 
knows,  for  "  John  Ward,  Preacher,"  was 
the  result.  Whether  the  sales  of  this  book 
would  have  been  so  great  if  "  Robert  Els- 
mere  "  had  not  just  made  its  appearance 
and  aroused  a  storm  of  criticism  and 
controversy  all  over  the  world,  is  an  open 
question ;  but  it  is  sure  that  Mrs.  Deland's 
book  was  distinguished  by  a  thoughtful 
and  earnest  spirit  and  the  skilful  treat 
ment  of  religious  subjects  that  was  rather 
new  at  the  time.  The  criticism  sometimes 
made  that  the  book  was  an  echo  of  Mrs. 
Ward's  was  unworthy  of  notice  for  two 
reasons:  one,  that  the  book  was  published 
almost  at  the  same  time  as  the  English 

97 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

novel,  and  another  that  Mrs.  Deland  had 
been  two  years  in  writing  it,  never  dream 
ing  that,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
another  woman  was  struggling  with  the 
same  great  question  of  freedom  of  relig 
ious  thought.  "  Old  Chester  Tales  "  has 
been  one  of  the  most  widely  read  of  her 
later  books.  Mrs.  Deland  takes  an  active 
interest  in  current  affairs,  especially  such 
as  concern  Boston  and  Massachusetts. 
Although  of  good  Presbyterian  stock,  she 
is  an  Episcopalian,  and  a  constant  attend 
ant  at  one  of  the  prominent  Back  Bay 
churches. 

Personally  she  is  a  charming  woman 
to  meet.  Of  attractive  personality  and 
good  taste  in  dress,  she  is  a  direct  contra 
diction  of  the  old  idea  that  a  literary 
woman  must  necessarily  be  a  frump,  and 
in  her  two  houses  one  sees  evidence  on 
every  hand  of  exquisite  taste.  Her  winter 
98 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

residence  is  an  old-fashioned,  spacious 
house  on  Mt.  Vernon  Street,  numbered 
76,  a  street  replete  with  historical  inter 
est  and  literary  association.  General 
Washington  himself  named  the  street  after 
his  own  home  in  Virginia,  and  every  foot 
of  its  surroundings  is  connected  with  some 
incident  of  colonial  days. 

Mrs.  Deland's  house  combines  the  old 
and  the  new  in  a  way  that  is  possible 
only  to  the  cultivated  modern  who  has  the 
power  of  putting  the  historical  into  the 
proper  perspective.  At  the  front,  a  long 
window  extends  the  whole  width  of  the 
house,  except  for  the  entrance,  and  here 
in  the  winter  are  grown  many  pots  of 
jonquils  that  eager  buyers  are  glad  to  take 
away  from  the  sale  she  holds  in  February 
for  a  pet  charity.  The  writer  of  "  An 
Old  Garden  "  is  essentially  a  flower  lover, 
and  this  passion  of  Mrs.  Del  and  is  on  evi- 

99 


LITERARY  BOSTON  OF  TO-DAY 

dence  on  all  sides.  In  the  front  vestibule, 
one  is  confronted  by  a  gate,  or  Dutch  door, 
on  which  is  the  veritable  knocker  that  was 
once  on  the  library  door  at  Wendell  Phil- 
lips's,  and  was  grasped  by  him  when  he 
fled  from  the  mob.  This  Dutch  door  opens 
directly  into  a  large  reception-room  that 
reminds  the  caller  of  a  garden,  so  bright 
and  cheery  is  it,  and  so  bedecked  with 
flowers.  Hospitality,  comfort,  and  noble 
simplicity  of  taste  are  the  qualities  that 
are  impressed  on  the  mind  of  the  caller, 
which  are  emphasised  by  the  great  open 
fireplace  and  its  smouldering  wood  fire. 
The  furniture  is  massive  and  colonial, 
and,  as  you  go  up  a  winding  staircase, 
you  notice  dainty  little  nooks  filled  with 
books.  At  the  back  of  the  house,  on  the 
second  floor,  is  Mrs.  Deland's  workroom. 
Here  is  another  wide  window  with  its 
blooming  pots  of  hyacinths  and  jonquils. 
100 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

Amidst  her  flowers  and  in  a  flood  of  sun 
shine  she  writes,  and  their  sunny  spirit 
is  reflected,  even  in  the  serious  life  of 
"John  Ward."  Indeed,  Mrs.  Deland's 
friends  now  claim  that  her  writing  is  done 
with  a  jon-quill.  Perhaps  it  is  this  bright, 
cheerful  atmosphere,  reflected  in  her  own 
mind,  that  gives  her  that  horror  of  relig 
ious  fanaticism  for  which  she  is  noted. 

Down  at  picturesque  old  Kennebunk- 
port,  Mrs.  Deland's  flower-embowered  cot 
tage  is  pointed  out  to  the  visitor  as  one 
of  the  features  of  that  summer  place.  It 
is  an  ideal  retreat,  surrounded  by  a  blaze 
of  colour,  for  the  same  riotous  love  of 
flowers  is  shown  here,  massed  in  effect 
ive  colours  and  picturesque  arrangement. 
She  attends  to  all  her  own  gardening,  and 
may  often  be  seen  in  the  early  dawn 
among  her  posy-beds.  Her  husband  is  Mr. 
Lorin  F.  Deland,  and  they  lead  a  singu- 

101 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

larly  harmonious  and  happy  life  together. 
Doubtless  the  story  that  Mrs.  Deland 
started  her.  literary  career  by  writing  ad 
vertisements  for  a  well-known  furniture 
house  came  from  the  fact  of  Mr.  Deland's 
connection  with  the  advertising  agency  of 
which  he  is  the  famous  head. 

Mrs.  Deland's  books,  in  addition  to  those 
mentioned,  have  been  "  Philip  and  His 
Wife,"  "  Sydney:  The  Story  of  a  Child," 
"Florida  Days,"  "The  Wisdom  of 
Fools,"  and  "  Mr.  Tommy  Dove  and 
Other  Stories." 

Says  one  writer  in  Time  and  the  Hour: 
"  Full  of  light,  through  the  long,  high 
range  of  panes,  which  has  superseded  the 
common  pair  of  parlour  windows,  is  the 
great,  square  room  occupying  the  whole 
front  house-space.  And  perhaps  a  glow  of 
flame  from  logs  in  the  ample  fireplace, 
which  fills  almost  one  side  of  it,  mingles 
102 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

with  the  sun's  illumination.  Low  book 
cases,  a  table  strewn  with  books,  one  or 
two  choice  pictures,  a  long,  embrasured 
settle,  a  few  low  chairs,  and  an  open 
staircase  rising  to  the  next  floor  on  the 
side  opposite  the  fireplace  complete  the 
detail  of  this  apartment,  —  hall  and  par 
lour  and  reception-room,  —  the  heart  of 
the  home.  It  is  clear,  free,  daintily  yet 
delicately  furnished,  like  the  mind  of  the 
hostess,  who  greets  you  there;  hospitable 
like  it,  too,  in  frank  and  easy  access  to 
every  genuine  approach.  But  it  is  flower- 
like  to  shrink  from  unsympathetic  touch, 
and  those  who  know  Mrs.  Deland  have 
heard  her  say,  '  I  hate  a  fool '  (or  a  sham) 
as  emphatically  as  '  Mr.  F's  aunt.'  Posi 
tive  and  vigorous  is  she  in  feeling  and  ex 
pression,  as  even  all  her  readers  must 
know. 

"  Mrs.  Deland  is  purposeful  in  her  art 

103 


LITERARY  BOSTON  OF  TO-DAY 

as  in  her  life.  '  John  Ward  '  and  '  Philip 
and  His  Wife '  are  no  mere  stories,  such 
as  some  popular  novelists  turn  out  by  the 
gross,  having  acquired  the  fatal  mechan 
ical  facility  of  the  craft.  In  lighter  vein, 
the  authoress  might,  had  she  chosen,  have 
taken  up  the  mantle  dropped  by  Mrs. 
Gaskell  so  untimely,  but  she  has  elected 
to  use  her  great  gifts  of  observation  and 
expression  to  enforce  burning  themes,  and 
to  throw  herself  into  the  thrilling  tide  of 
modern  thought.  Before  Mrs.  Deland 
came  to  Boston,  she  had  given  some  years 
to  personal  work,  even  under  her  own 
roof,  to  reform  the  lives  of  sinful  girls. 
She  has  sounded  the  depths  of  what  is, 
humanly  speaking,  hopeless  human  de 
pravity,  and  looks  upon  evil  without  sen 
timentality,  as  involving  a  penalty  as 
inevitable  in  the  moral  as  in  the  physical 
sphere.  Poet  and  novelist,  yet  her  truth- 
104 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

ful  temper  cannot  palter  with  the  inevi 
table,  and  she  recognises  that  real  charity 
has  its  scientific  principles  and  economic 
laws. 

"  Bishop  Brooks  was  one  of  Mrs.  De- 
land's  closest  friends,  yet  it  is  said  that 
her  own  convictions  led  her  to  shape  those 
writings  which  were  submitted  to  him 
during  his  life  for  his  advice,  quite  inde 
pendently  of  his  criticism,  where  it  did 
not  coincide  with  her  own  strong  convic 
tions.  And  it  is  easy  to  recognise,  in  a 
manner  which  is  perfectly  considerate, 
even  teachable,  the  underlying  calmness 
of  very  positive  assurance.  I  should  say, 
for  counsel,  for  direction,  for  inspiration, 
no  woman  could  lean,  in  any  kind  of 
trouble,  upon  a  surer  rock  than  Margaret 
Deland.  Yet  the  authoress  of  *  The  Old 
Garden,'  if  not  sentimental,  has  a  fund  of 
deep  sentiment.  Perhaps  she  will  tell 

105 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

you,  as  you  sit  before  the  deep  fireplace, 
adorned  on  the  mantel  with  several  por 
traits  of  Bishop  Brooks,  that  the  great 
bed  of  ashes  contains  all  those  which  had 
gathered  on  the  hearth  of  her  former  home. 
'  They  were  so  much  of  a  part  of  the  as 
sociation  with  him  and  the  other  dear 
friends  who  had  watched  the  embers  glow 
and  crumble,  as  they  sat  about  the  house- 
place,  that  one  could  not  bear  to  have 
them  cast  out,  so  they  were  brought  to 
the  new  domestic  altar  here.' 

"  Early  in  the  summer  '  life  and  thought 
no  longer  dwell '  in  the  Mt.  Vernon  Street 
house,  and  the  cottage  at  Kennebunkport 
wakes  up  and  becomes  animate.  As  the 
pressure  of  city  engagements  becomes 
greater,  a  greater  proportion  of  the  au 
thoress's  literary  work  is  done  in  this 
retirement.  For,  though  there  is  the  usual 
hotel  life  there,  the  peace  and  simplicity 
106 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

of  the  cottagers'  habits  have  not  been 
sacrificed  to  it,  and  they  have  perfect 
leisure  to  gather  up  dropped  stitches,  or 
merely  to  rest  and  renew  exhausted  nerves, 
as  seems  best  to  them.  That  even  an  or 
dinary  interruption  of  daily  life  need  not 
hamper  her,  Mrs.  Deland  has  a  sort  of 
'  studio  '  in  a  neighbouring  building,  and 
disappears  for  considerable  periods  to  pur 
sue  a  lonely  struggle  with  her  successful 
weapon  against  the  foes  whom  she  scatters 
with  such  vigour,  determination,  and  ef 
fect.  It  is  easy  to  feel  that  some  of  her 
inspiration  consists  in  the  happy  union  of 
a  sound  mind  with  a  sound  body,  tingling 
with  the  shock  of  the  Atlantic  waves,  or 
thrilling  with  the  ferruginous  breath  of 
its  strong  breezes.  Mrs.  Deland's  boat 
has  been  a  prize-winner  in  some  of  the 
annual  river  carnivals  which  are  the  event 
of  Kennebunkport's  fete-day,  and  she  usu- 

107 


LITERARY  BOSTON  OF  TO-DAY 

ally  has  her  guest-chambers  full, — but  one 
would  look  for  her  in  vain  at  the  hotels 
or  at  the  casino." 

Then,  too,  there  is  Elizabeth  Stuart 
Phelps  Ward.  Nobody  will  deny  her 
right  to  be  numbered  with  the  foremost 
writers  in  America,  and  since  she  came 
to  Newton  and  settled,  from  whence  she 
frequently  comes  forth  to  appear  at  occa 
sional  society  affairs,  Boston  claims  her 
as  belonging  to  its  literary  set.  She  is 
both  a  voluminous  and  inspiring  writer, 
and  has  been  well  called  one  of  the  most 
daring,  for  is  she  not  caught  frequently 
writing  of  things  beyond  the  veil  that 
separates  us  from  eternity  ?  She  claims 
that  we  are  living  in  the  suburbs  of  the 
Heavenly  City,  and  she  has  brightened 
the  life  of  many  a  weary  traveller  in  this 
mundane  sphere.  Not  only  with  her  fa 
mous  "  Gates  Ajar,"  "  Beyond  the  Gates," 
108 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and  "  The  Gates  Between  "  has  she  dared 
to  venture  into  what  had  heretofore  been 
considered  sacred  ground,  but  in  the  field 
of  speculative  essay,  she  treats  freely  sub 
jects  that  were  once  supposed  forbidden 
even  to  the  angels.  Whether  it  is  a  wise 
thing  for  the  modern  mind  that  is  in 
clined  toward  the  morbid  or  the  unfathom 
able,  we  will  not  attempt  to  settle  here. 
Mrs.  Ward  belongs  to  the  famous  Phelps 
family,  which  has  so  long  been  connected 
with  the  old-fashioned  theology,  and  it  is 
probable  that  this  accounts  for  her  bold 
and  aspiring  temperament. 

Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps  was  born  in 
Boston  August  thirty-first,  1844.  When 
she  was  four  years  old  her  father  was 
appointed  professor  at  the  Andover  Theo 
logical  Seminary,  and  the  pleasant  hill 
town  was  her  residence  until  her  marriage 
in  1888.  Her  first  literary  essay  was  a 

109 


LITEKAKY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

magazine  article,  called  u  A  Sacrifice  Con 
sumed,"  and  she  was  only  twenty -four 
when  her  great  success  was  attained  in 
"  Gates  Ajar."  Of  this  book  many  more 
than  one  hundred  thousand  copies  have 
been  sold.  It  has  been  translated  into 
German,  Danish,  and  Italian.  Her  lit 
erary  career  has  been  exceedingly  busy, 
and  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Herbert  D. 
Ward,  in  1888,  opened  a  new  chapter  in 
it.  In  collaboration  with  her  husband 
she  wrote  "  The  Master  of  the  Magicians," 
"Come  Forth,"  and ."  The  Lost  Hero," 
religious  novels,  in  which  the  outlines  of 
the  Scriptural  story  are  clothed  and  col 
oured.  Her  own  work  can  be  divided 
into  various  groups.  Mrs.  Ward  has  done 
a  good  deal  for  juvenile  literature,  and  has 
done  it  well.  There  are  the  "  Trotty  " 
books,  and  the  "  Gypsy  "  books,  and  "  The 
Boys  of  Brimstone  Court,"  which  are 
110 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

favourites  with  the  most  thoughtful  class 
of  youngsters.  Another  sphere  in  which 
she  has  tried  her  wings  is  the  poetical. 
"  Poetic  Studies  "  and  "  Songs  of  the  Si 
lent  World  "  are  specimens  of  this  side  of 
her  wide  mind.  She  has  made  some  nov 
els,  pure  and  simple,  —  "  The  Story  of 
Avis  "  and  "  Doctor  Zay,"  —  purposeful, 
of  course,  but  reasonably  progressive  bits 
of  genuine  narrative.  Again,  we  have  a 
group  of  realistic  tales,  like  "  The  Ma 
donna  of  the  Tubs,"  "  The  Supply  at  St. 
Agatha's,"  "  Jack  the  Fisherman,"  and 
"  A  Singular  Life,"  to  which  we  might 
add  the  extravaganza,  illustrated  by  "  The 
Old  Maid's  Paradise,"  "  The  Burglar  in 
Paradise,"  and  so  on.  Finally  there  are 
the  stories  of  the  Promised  Land,  "  Gates 
Ajar,"  "  The  Gates  Between,"  and  "  Be 
yond  the  Gates." 

Her  "  Story  of  Jesus  Christ  "  is  one  of 

111 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

the  most  tender  biographies  of  the  Christ 
ever  written.  Her  beautiful,  pathetic  tale 
called  "  Loveliness  "  is  without  doubt  the 
best  argument  against  vivisection  ever  put 
forth,  and  none  who  have  read  it  can  feel 
that  its  author  is  wasting  a  bit  of  time 
and  strength  in  the  war  she  is  waging 
against  the  practice  of  vivisection. 

Mr.  Herbert  Dickinson  Ward,  her  hus 
band,  was  born  in  Waltham,  Massachu 
setts,  and  is  a  graduate  of  Amherst  Col 
lege.  He  was  the  son  of  Doctor  William 
Hayes  Ward,  editor  of  the  New  York 
Independent.  Mr.  Ward  was  "  The  Bur 
glar  Who  Moved  Paradise,"  and  married 
Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps  at  the  little  cot 
tage  at  East  Gloucester,  which  is  asso 
ciated  in  the  minds  of  so  many  delighted 
readers  of  the  "  Old  Maid's  Paradise." 
Mr.  Ward  has  written  several  books  alone, 
besides  collaborating  with  his  wife  in 
112 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

three,  and  is  doing  a  vast  amount  of  lit 
erary  work  for  the  best  magazines  and 
periodicals.  He  belongs  to  the  University 
Club,  and  is  treasurer  of  the  Boston  Au 
thors'  Club;  he  has  been  for  several  years 
State  Commissioner  of  Prisons,  and  is  a 
popular  member  of  many  organisations. 
He  is  a  diligent  worker,  and  possessed 
of  a  ready  wit,  which  gives  zest  to  all  he 
says  as  well  as  to  what  he  writes.  His 
latest  work  was  a  brilliant  novel,  which 
was  published  anonymously,  and  it  has 
proved  that  a  thoroughly  good  book  may 
become  popular  without  a  well-known 
name  on  its  title-page. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ward  have  a  charming 
home  in  Newton  Centre,  where  they  live 
surrounded  by  their  books,  and  half  buried 
in  work  during  the  winter  months,  flitting 
back  to  their  "  Paradise  "  at  East  Glouces 
ter  with  the  first  hint  of  summer. 

113 


LITEFJLRY    BOSTOX   OF    TO-DAY 

B*t  im  SBBHung  «p  o*r  famous  literary 
let  as  wit  forget  that  rarest, 
wkiek  na$  groat  oat  a 


Harriet  !*••••!•  SpoSord 

it  is  trae  that  her  real  home  is  *t  Xew- 


witk  hteruy  Boaloa,  and 
t  <rf  e»cijk  wivler  •OCL  oae  is 
»rfi  friend  of  Mrs.  Moul- 
IDB,  od  luj'  o*  rare  ooeaaoBs  fee  found 
at  a  Friday  aftemxm  reeeftxm  at  28 
Ratiaad  Sqvare,  altnovgii.  shy  createne 
tint  aW  is,  it  is  ahaost  iin|NMiiliii  to  in- 
to  attend  a»y  function  of  a  social 
Her  poetic  atwl,  ncwrever, 

-  1  -   -  :.  i  --.     :   _•  -       :  .    - 

»_    *-•••--    .    i  ___  j      _  j    «  •  •  •«      •• 

----   z.  -     _--  -     -  —     ------  - 

face  is  often  nea  at  the  best 
and  at  tne  opera. 

jfnu    Spofford    was    born    in    Calais, 
114 


LITERARY    BOSTOX   OF   TO-DAY 

Maine,  but  removed  to  Xewburyport,  Mas 
sachusetts,  at  an  early  age,  where  she  mar 
ried  Richard  S.  Spofford,  a  prominent 
Boston  lawyer,  in  1S65.  Their  hone  OB 
Deer  Isle,  in  the  Merrimac  River,  be- 
tween  Xewburyport  and  Amesbury,  was 
an  ideal  one,  and  here  Mrs.  Spofford's 
friends  are  still  glad  to  seek  her  out,  for 
she  still  clings  to  the  beautiful  spot,  al 
though  Mr.  Spofford  was  called  to  the 
"  Blessed  Isles  "  several  years  ago.  The 
electric  car,  with  its  jangling  discord, 
now  clangs  across  the  old  chain  bridge 
that  connects  Deer  Isle  to  the  two  old 
towns,  and  pilgrims  to  Whittier's  old  home, 
as  well  as  those  on  more  prosaic  errands 
bent,  may  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  stately 
old  mansion,  with  its  shaded  grounds)  at 
one  side,  and  the  picturesque  field  oppo 
site  with  its  groups  of  noble  trees,  its 
summer-house,  and  its  boat-bouse,  as  they 

115 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

go  clanging  by.  But  only  the  favoured 
few  are  privileged  to  know  Mrs.  Spofford 
in  her  own  home,  where  she  seems  half 
like  some  woodland  sprite  and  half  the 
shy  invalid,  poet,  and  novelist.  Her  heart 
beats  warm  for  humanity,  however,  and 
loves  her  friends  devotedly  when  once  she 
recognises  the  sincerity  of  their  affection 
for  her.  Mr.  Spofford  was  a  thorough 
scholar  and  lover  of  books,  and  the  fine 
old  house  has  a  rare  library  within  its 
well-kept  walls.  As  Mrs.  Spofford  has 
always  lived  in  the  atmosphere  of  books, 
it  is  not  strange  that  she  should  have 
chosen  the  vocation  of  letters.  More  than 
a  dozen  books  of  fiction  have  her  name  on 
the  title-page,  and  several  volumes  of  verse 
attest  her  right  to  the  much  abused  word, 
poet.  The  same  elusive  charm  that  per 
vades  her  personality  shines  through  her 
writings,  and,  although  Mrs.  Spofford  is 
116 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

approaching  the  three  score  years  and  ten 
limit,  her  work  is  just  as  much  in  demand 
by  publishers  and  public  as  ever.  May 
it  be  many  years  before  she  lays  down  her 
pen. 


117 


CHAPTER    VI. 


JOHN    TOWNSEND    TROWBRIDCE    AND 
HEZEKIAH    BUTTERWORTH 


MERRIVALE"  is 
the  name  of  a  book  which  has 
been  read,  probably,  by  but 
few  of  the  present  generation,  although 
a  small  special  edition,  printed  a  few 
years  since,  introduced  it  to  a  select  cir 
cle  of  readers,  who  were  specially  inter 
ested  in  it  because  they  had  heard  it 
whispered  that  within  its  pages  were  re 
cited  the  early  literary  experiences  of  one 
of  Boston's  famous  writers,  John  T.  Trow- 
bridge,  who  first  gave  them  to  the  public 
118 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

under  the  pen-name  of  Paul  Creyton,  in 
1854. 

Whether  or  not  this  supposition  of  the 
story  being,  in  part  at  least,  autobiograph 
ical,  is  true,  it  is  still  an  interesting  one 
to  read,  for  the  insight  which  the  book 
gives  into  the  editorial  offices  of  the  time. 
Those  who  were  familiar  with  them  — 
and  there  are  some  still  remaining  who 
were  —  say  that  nowhere  else  is  so  accu 
rate  a  portrayal  of  their  peculiarities 
given  as  in  these  pages. 

If  all  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  which 
"  Martin  Merrivale  "  met  were  really  en 
countered  by  John  Townsend  Trowbridge, 
one  thing  is  certain,  and  that  is  that  he 
conquered  them  all,  and  now  rests  in  the 
serene  afternoon  of  life  in  his  rarely  pleas 
ant  home  in  the  town  of  Arlington,  one 
of  Boston's  charming  suburbs  just  beyond 
Cambridge. 

119 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

He  lives  in  Pleasant  Street,  which  is 
most  fittingly  named,  a  wide  avenue  run 
ning  from  the  main  street  across  into  the 
neighbouring  town  of  Belmont.  This 
street  is  a  veritable  parkway,  with  arching 
elms  overhanging  it,  and  broad  stretches 
of  green  turf  separating  the  sidewalk  and 
roadway.  His  house  is  set  well  back  from 
the  street,  is  of  wood,  painted  a  deep  red, 
and,  with  its  graceful  outlines  and  cosy 
piazzas,  makes  a  most  effective  picture 
under  the  big  trees  which  half  surround 
and  wholly  frame  it. 

It  is  up-stairs  in  this  attractive  house 
that  the  visitor  finds  the  author's  study, 
the  room  where  Mr.  Trowbridge  does  his 
work.  It  is  a  cheerful  apartment,  not  too 
large,  with  two  windows  facing  the  west, 
and  one  looking  to  the  south.  His  desk 
faces  the  southern  window,  and  the  view 
therefrom  is  so  attractive  that  it  is  a  great 
120 


LITERARY    BOSTOX    OF    TO-DAY 

temptation  to  the  occupant  to  keep  his 
eyes  constantly  fixed  upon  it.  And  so, 
when  he  is  very  busy,  and  the  work  is 
insistent,  he  pulls  down  the  blind  to  shut 
out  all  its  beauty,  for  only  so  can  he  ac 
complish  his  task. 

This  southerly  outlook  is  over  the  near 
gardens  to  Spy  Pond,  while  from  his  west 
ern  windows  he  looks  past  the  big  apple- 
tree  and  the  tall  fir-tree  which  stand  close 
to  the  house,  across  the  well-kept,  trimly 
clipped  lawn,  with  its  flowering  shrubs 
here  and  there,  and  its  vine-covered  trel 
lises,  to  the  broad  street  and  lovely  estates 
opposite. 

It  was  on  account  of  its  proximity  to 
the  pond  that  Mr.  Trowbridge  chose  his 
home.  When  he  was  a  boy,  he  lived  on 
the  banks  of  the  Erie  canal,  and  he  is 
never  content  to  be  out  of  sight  of  the 
water.  In  the  summer  he  goes  with  his 

121 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

family  to  their  cottage  near  Cape  Arundel, 
at  Kennebunkport,  but,  glad  as  they  are 
to  escape  the  heated  term  inland,  they  are 
never  sorry  to  return  to  the  Arlington 
home,  at  which  they  arrive  usually  while 
autumn  is  in  its  fullest  glory. 

Mr.  Trowbridge  is  in  all  his  character 
istics  a  typical  New  Englander,  but  he  is, 
nevertheless,  a  native  of  New  York  State, 
and  did  not  come  to  Boston  until  about 
a  month  before  he  was  twenty-one.  But 
he  is  of  good  New  England  stock,  his 
father,  Windsor  Stone  Trowbridge,  having 
been  born  in  Framingham,  Massachusetts, 
although  brought  up  in  New  York  State, 
and  settled  in  the  town  of  Ogden,  eight 
miles  beyond  the  city  of  Rochester,  where 
the  famous  author  was  born,  the  eighth 
child  of  the  family,  on  the  eighteenth  of 
September,  1827.  As  a  boy,  Mr.  Trow 
bridge  lived  the  usual  country  life,  going 
122 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

to  school  for  six  months  a  year  until  he 
was  fourteen,  working  on  the  farm  in 
summer,  and  learning  more  out  of  school 
than  in,  through  his  studious  habits  and 
his  love  of  reading.  He  taught  himself 
French,  and  also  attempted  Latin  and 
German  without  a  teacher.  Much  of  his 
time  he  spent  in  writing,  and  his  first 
published  bit  was  a  school  poem,  "  The 
Tomb  of  Napoleon." 

When  first  Mr.  Trowbridge  came  to 
Boston  to  seek  his  fortune  in  literature, 
his  father  had  been  dead  about  five  years, 
and  he  was  wholly  dependent  upon  his 
own  resources.  Life  was  a  serious  thing 
for  him  at  that  time,  although  it  was 
brightened  by  the  friendship  of  another 
young  writer  and  newspaper  man,  Benja 
min  P.  Shillaber,  who  afterward  became 
known  the  country  over  as  "  Mrs.  Par- 
tington,"  and  was  one  of  the  early  humour- 

123 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ists.  Genial,  warm-hearted,  altogether  de 
lightful  Ben  Shillaber!  One  can  easily 
imagine  how  his  friendship  might  cheer 
a  lonesome  young  worker  like  Trowbridge, 
alone  in  a  strange  city,  making  the  manful 
fight  for  success  which  came  because  he 
compelled  it. 

He  had  previously  spent  some  little 
time  in  New  York  writing  for  the  Sunday 
Times,  the  Dollar  Magazine,  the  Knick 
erbocker,  and  other  periodicals.  But  he 
tired  of  writing  for  fame,  notes  of  thanks, 
and,  at  most,  a  dollar  a  page,  and  so  came 
to  Boston,  the  acknowledged  literary  cen 
tre,  where,  writing  under  the  name  of 
Paul  Creyton,  he  found  plenty  to  do  at 
the  munificent  rate  of  two  dollars  a 
column. 

In  1855  he  went  to  Europe,  and  spent 
the  summer  in  Passy,  a  suburb  of  Paris, 
where  he  wrote  "  Neighbour  J  ackwood," 
124 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

his  first  work  of  widely  extended  popu 
larity.  After  the  Anthony  Burns  affair, 
young  Trowbridge  had  cast  his  lot  in  with 
the  Abolitionists,  and  in  "  Neighbour 
Jackwood,"  as  well  as  in  a  later  story, 
"  Cudjo's  Cave,"  there  was  no  mistaking 
where  he  stood  on  the  question  which  was 
rending  the  country  and  threatening  to 
disintegrate  it.  Its  graphic  pictures  of 
New  England  life  made  "  Neighbour 
Jackwood  "  a  great  success,  and  gave  its 
author  national  reputation.  The  book  at 
once  took  a  place  among  the  standard 
novels  of  America,  and  is  still  widely  read. 
Soon  after  its  publication  in  book  form, 
the  author  dramatised  it,  and  the  play 
was  produced  at  the  Boston  Museum, 
where  it  had  a  long  run  to  crowded  houses. 
When  the  Atlantic  Monthly  was  pro 
posed,  he  was  invited  to  become  a  con 
tributor,  and,  although  less  than  fifty 

125 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

years  have  passed  since  the  appearance  of 
the  first  number,  Mr.  Trowbridge  and 
Professor  Charles  Eliot  Norton  are  the 
sole  survivors  of  the  contributors  to  that 
first  issue.  Mr.  Trowbridge  occupies  a 
unique  position  among,  the  older  literary 
men,  being  the  only  one  who  has  depended 
wholly  upon  the  income  from  his  books. 
He  held  no  position  in  any  business, 
nor  as  teacher,  nor  did  he  attempt  any 
other  profession,  and  only  for  three  years 
was  he  in  an  editorial  position.  During 
the  time  between  1870  and  1873  he  was 
the  editor  of  Our  Young  Folks.  Some  of 
his  own  early  experiences  with  editors 
must  have  remained  in  his  mind,  for  a 
more  considerate,  kindly,  sympathetic 
man,  especially  in  his  treatment  of  young 
writers,  never  sat  in  the  editorial  chair. 
It  was  while  he  held  this  office  that  he 
wrote  his  most  famous  story  for  boys, 
126 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

"  Jack  Hazard."  The  success  of  this 
work  was  so  great  that  it  influenced  him 
to  keep  along  in  this  line  of  work,  and  so 
great  was  the  demand  for  these  breezy, 
wholesome,  healthy  tales  that  his  fame  as 
a  writer  of  juvenile  literature  for  a  while 
almost  dimmed  his  poetic  reputation. 
During  all  the  years  he  has  kept  up  his 
connection  with  the  Atlantic,  and  is  a 
frequent  contributor.  If  there  is  one 
thing  in  American  literature  that  is  al 
most  like  a  patent  of  nobility,  it  is  the 
reputation  of  being  one  of  the  original 
"  Atlantic  group."  It  is,  as  nearly  as 
may  be,  like  being  one  of  the  "  Immor 
tals  "  of  the  French  Academy. 

As  might  naturally  be  supposed,  Mr. 
Trowbridge  has  known  most  of  the  well- 
known  literary  men  and  women  —  those 
best  worth  knowing  certainly  —  in  Amer 
ica  during  the  past  half  century.  Walt 

127 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Whitman  was  counted  one  of  his  dearest 
friends,  and  so  were  John  Burroughs  and 
the  poet  Longfellow.  A  few  years  ago 
Dartmouth  College  conferred  the  A.  M. 
degree  on  Mr.  Trowbridge,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  on  Charles  Dudley  Warner. 

All  the  author's  actual  writing  is  done 
at  the  desk  in  the  pleasant  study  on  the 
second  floor  of  his  house,  which  has  al 
ready  been  described.  As  he  relates  them, 
his  methods  are  very  simple.  When  he 
has  a  long  piece  of  work  in  hand,  he  sits 
down  soon  after  breakfast,  and  stays  at 
his  desk  for  three  or  four  hours,  working 
steadily  and  uninterruptedly.  He  is  an 
impulsive  writer,  but  he  does  not  put  pen 
to  paper  unless  he  has  something  to  say. 
He  revises  and  rewrites  more  than  he  did 
in  his  earlier  work,  which  is  quite  natural. 
Much  of  his  work  is  done  in  the  open  air, 
particularly  his  poetry,  which  is  composed 
128 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

while  he  is  walking  about,  and  his  verses 
are  often  quite  complete  in  his  mind  be 
fore  they  are  committed  to  paper.  During 
the  fifty  odd  years  of  his  literary  life,  he 
has  produced  almost  fifty  volumes  of  prose 
and  poetry,  a  remarkable  record. 

Mr.  Trowbridge's  prose  is  marked  by 
a  simplicity  and  sturdiness  befitting  the 
plain  country  life  concerning  which  he 
writes.  His  humour  is  full,  genial,  and 
hearty,  and  perfectly  clean  and  pure.  But 
good  as  his  prose  is,  it  is  upon  his  poems 
that  his  enduring  literary  reputation  will 
probably  rest.  Said  Mr.  Ilowells,  in 
speaking  of  his  work :  "  His  poems  show 
him  to  have  looked  deeply  into  the  heart 
of  common  humanity  with  a  true  and  ten 
der  sense  of  it."  There  is  a  feeling  akin 
to  Tom  Hood's  in  the  handling  of  homely 
subjects,  and  in  the  humour  and  pathos 
extracted  from  them.  No  humour  ever 

129 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

made  one  laugh  more  spontaneously  or  was 
more  free  from  vulgarity;  no  pathos 
was  ever  more  directly  chord-touching. 
Through  everything  gleams  the  sunlight 
of  his  nature,  and  his  preference  for  the 
bright  side  of  the  world. 

The  soldierly  carriage  and  erect  figure 
of  Mr.  Trowbridge  tell  the  story  of  his 
love  of  exercise,  while  his  clear  blue  eyes 
and  fine  colour  belie  the  record  of  his  three 
score  years  and  ten.  He  is  the  friend  and 
companion  of  his  children,  a  young  son  of 
about  nineteen,  just  entering  sturdy  man 
hood,  and  two  accomplished  daughters,  one 
of  whom  is  a  fine  violinist,  the  other  an 
equally  accomplished  pianist.  The  home 
is  a  genial  and  sympathetic  one,  where 
friends  find  hearty  welcome,  and  even  the 
stranger  is  not  permitted  to  feel  his 
strangeness,  because  of  the  fine  hospitality 

130 


LITERARY    BOSTOX    OF    TO-DAY 

of  the  master  of  the  house,  warmly  sec 
onded  by  his  wife  and  daughters. 

Boston  cherishes  this  sunny-natured 
man,  not  only  for  himself,  but  because  he 
is  one  of  the  few  remaining  links  binding 
the  golden  days  of  her  literary  past  with 
the  literary  life  of  to-day. 

When  a  strong,  clear  note  of  human 
kindliness  and  sympathy  marks  the  work 
of  a  writer,  one  secret  of  his  success  is 
made  apparent.  And  when  there  is  com 
bined  with  this  trait  great  fertility  of  in 
vention  and  a  keen  insight  into  human 
nature,  another  secret  of  his  success  be 
comes  manifest. 

Mr.  Hezekiah  Butterworth  is  a  Bos 
ton  writer  whose  work  is  disinguished 
by  these  traits.  His  outlook  on  life  is 
so  kindly  and  so  cheerful  that  one  can 
not  find  a  morbid  or  despondent  line  in 
anything  that  he  has  written.  His  has 

131 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ever  been  a  gospel  of  hopefulness  and 
helpfulness,  and  many  of  his  books  have 
exerted  a  wide  influence  for  good.  Ever 
ready  and  glad  to  recognise  merit  in  young 
writers,  he  has  been  a  source  of  help  and 
inspiration  to  many  young  and  untried 
men  and  women  entering  the  world  of 
literature,  and  needing  for  their  develop 
ment  just  such  sympathy  and  encourage 
ment  as  Mr.  Butterworth  has  given  them. 
He  has  caused  a  fresh  spirit  to  rise  in 
many  a  depressed  and  discouraged  writer, 
and  he  has  been  quick  to  respond  to  any 
appeal  for  advice  and  sympathy.  Entirely 
unselfish  and  a  stranger  to  envy,  Mr.  But 
terworth  has  watched  with  keen  delight 
the  rise  of  many  of  our  most  prominent 
writers,  and  some  of  them  have  been  glad 
to  testify  to  the  fact  that  they  owe  their 
success  largely  to  the  encouragement  Mr. 
Butterworth  gave  them  at  a  time  when 
132 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

they    needed    encouragement    most,    and 
when  others  withheld  it  from  them. 

Mr.  Butterworth's  ready  sympathy  with 
and  for  young  writers  struggling  against 
many  obstacles,  is  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  he  knows  from  personal  experience 
what  it  is  to  overcome  obstacles,  and  what 
it  is  to  stand  in  need  of  a  friend  to  offer 
a  word  of  cheer  and  encouragement.  Born 
of  poor  parents  in  the  little  town  of  War 
ren,  Rhode  Island,  in  the  year  1839,  Mr. 
Butterworth  has  known  what  it  is  to  strug 
gle  against  adverse  fates.  With  only  a 
common  school  education,  without  money, 
friends,  or  influence,  he  left  his  country 
home  and  came  to  Boston,  the  Mecca  of 
all  young  aspirants  for  literary  honour 
and  glory.  Like  so  many  other  young 
writers,  he  found  a  sale  for  his  first  work 
in  the  office  of  the  Youth's  Companion. 
The  owner  of  that  paper  was  a  man  of 

133 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

acute  perceptions,  and  he  was  quick  to 
discover  traces  of  genius  in  the  work  of  the 
inexperienced  youth  from  Rhode  Island, 
and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  in  the  year 
1870  Mr.  Butterworth  became  associated 
with  the  Youth's  Companion,  and  for 
twenty-five  years  he  was  one  of  the  editors 
of  that  paper.  It  is  not  giving  Mr.  But 
terworth  any  undue  meed  of  praise  to  say 
that  the  wonderful  success  of  the  Youth's 
Companion  has  been  in  part  due  to  his 
work  during  those  twenty-five  years.  No 
man  ever  gave  more  faithful  and  con 
scientious  work  to  a  paper,  and  the  result 
of  that  work  has  been  something  of  which 
any  man  might  well  be  proud. 

In  addition  to  his  editorial  duties  Mr. 
Butterworth  wrote  many  books  and  many 
stories  for  the  best  known  magazines  dur 
ing  the  quarter  of  a  century  he  was  with 
the  Youth's  Companion.  It  was  during 
134 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

these  years  that  he  brought  out  that  im 
mensely  popular  series  of  books  under  the 
title  of  "  Zigzag  Journeys."  These  books 
have  had  an  aggregate  sale  of  more  than 
a  half  million  of  copies,  and  the  demand 
for  them  continues.  Indeed,  Mr.  Butter- 
worth  might  still  be  writing  them  with 
profit,  but  he  has  wanted  to  give  his  time 
to  other  kinds  of  book  writing.  His 
"  Story  of  the  Hymns,"  published  in  1878, 
won  for  him  the  George  Wood  gold  medal, 
and  his  "  Under  the  Palms,"  and  other 
musical  compositions  have  met  with  great 
favour. 

Resigning  his  position  in  the  office  of 
the  Youth's  Companion  in  1895,  Mr.  But- 
terworth  spent  a  number  of  months  abroad, 
this  being  his  second  or  third  trip  across 
the  water.  He  has  visited  all  parts  of 
Europe,  and  has  travelled  in  South  Amer 
ica  and  in  Cuba.  He  has  gone  over  the 

135 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Andes,  and  has  during  the  present  year 
taken  a  trip  to  Porto  Rico.  The  result 
of  his  journeying  has  been  a  number  of 
books  of  travel,  and  he  has  published  a 
"  History  of  South  America,"  and  one  or 
two  histories  for  young  readers.  He  has 
written  no  less  than  twelve  volumes  for 
the  D.  Appleton  Company,  among  them 
being  the  "  Boyhood  of  Lincoln,"  "  The 
Wampum  Belt,"  "  The  Log  Schoolhouse 
on  the  Columbia,"  "  The  Knight  of  Lib 
erty,"  "  The  Patriot  Schoolmaster,"  and 
other  stories,  in  which  the  heroes  of  our 
American  history  have  played  a  part. 

Mr.  Butterworth  has  published  two  vol 
umes  of  poems,  and  his  short  stories  would 
make  a  great  many  volumes  if  they  were 
published  in  book  form.  His  stories  have 
appeared  in  the  Century,  the  Atlantic, 
Harper's  Magazine,  St.  Nicholas,  the  Out 
look,  and,  indeed,  in  nearly  every  maga- 
136 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

zine  of  any  prominence  in  the  country. 
He  has  been  one  of  the  most  industrious 
of  our  American  writers,  and  has  brought 
out  nearly  fifty  volumes  of  various  kinds, 
while  the  demand  for  his  work  steadily 
increases. 

Ever  seeking  an  opportunity  to  be  help 
ful  to  others,  Mr.  Butterworth  has  for 
years  been  identified  with  different  organ 
isations  having  for  their  object  the  uplift 
ing  of  humanity.  He  has  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  been  a  member  of  one 
of  the  greatest  institutional  churches  in 
America,  the  Ruggles  Street  Baptist, 
and  he  has  given  in  the  aggregate  many 
months  of  personal  service  in  the  carrying 
forward  of  religious  and  benevolent  work. 
He  has  rarely  refused  to  give  his  services 
without  charge  as  a  speaker  for  any  good 
cause,  and  a  very  large  part  of  his  earn 
ings  have  been  given  to  others.  His  in- 

137 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY. 

fhience  for  good  has  been  far-reaching,  and 
he  has  been  a  builder  of  men. 

In  recent  years  Mr.  Butterworth  has 
become  a  most  popular  lecturer,  and  the 
demand  for  his  services  in  this  direction 
has  been  so  great  that  he  has  written  a 
number  of  lectures,  among  the  most  popu 
lar  being  the  ones  entitled  "  Over  the  An 
des,"  "  Longfellow  and  the  New  England 
Poets,"  "  The  Red  Settle  Tales  and  Songs 
of  Old  New  England  Days,"  "  Emerson 
and  the  New  England  Transcendentalists," 
and  "  The  Story  of  the  Hymns."  He  has 
also  met  with  most  gratifying  success  as  a 
speaker  before  religious  bodies,  one  of  his 
most  effective  addresses  being  the  one  en 
titled  "  The  Creative  Power  of  Prayer." 

His  wonderfully  retentive  memory  and 

his  ability  to  present  a  subject  in  the  most 

entertaining  way  make  Mr.   Butterworth 

a  speaker  who  always  pleases  his  audi- 

138 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ences.  He  is  never  happier  than  when  he 
is  addressing  the  young.  This  is  because 
his  own  heart  is  a  fountain  of  perennial 
youth,  and  he  refuses  to  grow  old  in 
spirit.  His  marked  fondness  for  the  so 
ciety  of  the  young  is  no  doubt  prompted 
by  the  same  motive  that  caused  Doctor 
Johnson  to  write:  "I  love  the  acquaintance 
of  young  people;  because,  in  the  first 
place,  I  do  not  like  to  think  myself  grow 
ing  old.  In  the  next  place,  young  acquaint 
ances  must  last  longest,  if  they  do  last; 
and  then,  sir,  young  men  have  more  vir 
tue  than  old  men;  they  have  more  gen 
erous  sentiments  in  every  respect."  Be 
this  as  it  may,  it  is  true  that  Mr.  But- 
terworth  is  never  happier  than  when  he 
is  in  the  society  of  the  young,  to  whom 
he  is  a  steadfast  friend.  While  Mr.  But- 
terworth  has  not  been  a  writer  of  great 
books,  he  has  written  many  volumes  that 

139 


LITERAEY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

have  counted  for  much  in  the  growing 
good  of  the  world.  The  youth  of  his  day 
and  generation  have  been  helped  by  much 
that  Mr.  Butterworth  has  written,  and  he 
has  left  his  impress  on  the  age  in  which 
he  has  lived.  Not  a  line  that  he  has  writ 
ten  has  destroyed  character,  or  been  in 
any  way  harmful  to  his  readers.  With 
high  ideals  and  a  strong  desire  to  make 
his  work  count  for  good,  Mr.  Butterworth 
has  been  true  to  himself  in  his  work,  and 
our  American  literature  could  ill  afford 
to  have  lost  much  that  he  has  contributed 
to  it. 

No  group  of  the  older  Boston  men  of 
letters  is  complete  without  the  genial  and 
scholarly  gentleman  known  as  Frank  San- 
born,  editor,  lecturer,  author,  philosopher. 
Franklin  Benjamin  Sanborn  was  born  in 
Hampton  Falls,  New  Hampshire,  in  1831. 
He  came  to  Boston  while  a  young  man, 
140 


LITERARY    BOSTON   OF   TO-DAY 

and  was  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1855. 
Mr.  Sanborn  has  been  connected  with 
journalism  in  Boston  for  many  years,  his 
Boston  letter  to  the  Springfield  Republi 
can  having  been  widely  quoted  for  many 
years.  Indeed,  his  opinions,  as  given  in 
that  sheet,  have  come  to  be  looked  upon 
as  authoritative,  even  although  somewhat 
radical.  He  was  editor  of  the  Journal  of 
Social  Science  twenty-one  years,  and  has 
edited  twenty  Massachusetts  State  Re 
ports  on  Charities,  Labour,  etc.  Mr.  San- 
born  was  one  of  the  founders  and  active 
workers  in  the  Concord  School  of  Philoso 
phy.  He  has  been  a  lecturer,  not  only  at 
that  famous  institution,  but  in  Cornell, 
Smith,  and  Wellesley  Colleges,  and  has 
written  biographies  of  Emerson,  Thoreau, 
Alcott,  Doctor  Samuel  G.  Howe,  John 
Brown,  and  Doctor  Earl.  He  has  also 
been  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American 

141 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Social  Science  Association,  the  National 
Prison  Association,  the  National  Confer 
ence  of  Charities,  the  Clark  School  for 
the  Deaf,  the  Massachusetts  Infant  Asy 
lum,  and  has  been  secretary  or  president 
of  most  of 'these.  He  has  also  been  chair 
man  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  State 
Charity,  and  for  ten  years  an  inspec 
tor  of  charities  for  the  State  as  well. 
Although  he  has  passed  his  allotted  three 
score  and  ten,  he  is  still  active  in  public 
and  charitable  work. 


142 


CHAPTER    VII. 

JAMES  JEFFREY  ROCHE,  THOMAS  RUSSELL 
SULLIVAN,  JOHN  T.  WHEELWRIGHT, 
FREDERIC  J.  STIMSON,  AND  ROBERT 
GRANT 

" ~r  T  TT  HY  are  you  smiling?"  asked 

yt'  one  friend  of  another  whom 

he  met  on  the  street  in  Boston. 

"  I've  just  left  Jeff  Roche,"  was  the 
reply;  then  both  laughed,  a  merry,  genial 
laugh  of  perfect  understanding  and  thor 
ough  good  fellowship. 

There  is  that  quality  about  James  Jef 
frey  Roche  that  makes  all  his  friends  feel 
in  better  spirits  whenever  they  see  him. 
He  expresses  within  himself  the  spirit  of 

143 


LITEKAKY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

good  comradeship,  and  he  fairly  radiates 
kindliness  and  friendliness.  He  is  a 
charming  man  and  a  delightful,  sympa 
thetic  companion.  His  is  a  well-known 
figure  in  literary  Boston;  he  has  dark 
eyes  that  sparkle  and  snap  with  intensity 
of  feeling,  or  soften  with  sympathy;  his 
dark  hair,  that  will  curl  in  spite  of  every 
attempt  to  make  it  lie  smooth,  is  begin 
ning  to  be  threaded  with  gray,  and  the 
gray  shows  also  in  the  moustache  that 
hides  the  expressive  mouth,  which,  as  well 
as  the  eyes,  betrays  every  variation  of 
feeling  and  each  differing  emotion. 

His  thoughts  move  rapidly,  and  when 
he  talks,  his  words  come  bubbling  and 
tumbling  one  over  the  other  in  the  effort 
of  the  tongue  to  keep  pace  with  the  brain. 
He  moves  his  hands  in  quick,  expressive 
gesture,  and  even  his  body  shows  his  mood 
by  its  movement,  alternately  flexible  and 
144 


JAMES    JEFFREY    ROCHE 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

tense,  swayed  by  the  waves  of  feeling  that 
pulsate  through  the  healthy  veins. 

Sparkling,  genial,  ready  of  wit,  quick 
with  sympathy,  clever  at  repartee,  tender 
of  suffering  or  distress,  loyal  in  friend 
ship,  eager,  alert,  Irish,  —  this  is  James 
Jeffrey  Roche,  poet,  orator,  editor. 

Mr.  Roche  was  born  at  Mountmellick, 
Queen's  County,  Ireland,  just  a  little  over 
fifty  years  ago.  But  all  the  practical  use 
he  had  for  Ireland  was  to  be  born  in  it, 
although  he  has  a  deep  and  abiding  love 
for  the  country  in  which  his  eyes  first 
beheld  the  light  of  day.  He  was  brought 
to  Prince  Edward  Island  by  his  parents 
in  his  early  infancy,  and  that  was  his  boy 
hood's  home.  His  father,  Edward  Roche, 
an  accomplished  scholar  and  a  distin 
guished  teacher,  personally  attended  to  the 
early  education  of  his  son.  The  boy  at 
tended  the  school  directed  by  his  father, 

145 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and  prepared  for  college  under  his  careful 
eye.  He  entered  Saint  Dunstan's  College 
at  Charlottetown,  where,  among  his  class 
mates,  were  the  present  Chief  Justice  of 
the  island  and  Archbishop  of  Halifax,  and 
in  due  time  he  was  graduated  from  that 
institution  of  learning. 

He  showed  his  literary  bent  at  an  early 
age,  and,  although  when  he  came  to  Bos 
ton,  in  1866,  he  started  out  in  a  business 
career,  he  was  not  destined  to  follow  it 
for  a  life's  vocation.  He  engaged  for  sev 
enteen  years  in  commercial  pursuits,  but 
his  pen  was  busy  during  this  period,  and 
he  was  steadily  tending  toward  what  was 
to  prove  his  real  work.  He  was  feeling 
his  way,  trying  to  discover  what  he  really 
could  do  in  the  line  of  his  preferred  pro 
fession  before  he  should  cut  loose  from 
the  dull  routine  of  a  business  life,  which, 
as  much  as  he  disliked  it,  still  gave  him 
146 


LITEKARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

his  bread  and  butter  and  the  necessary 
accompaniments.  He  was  the  Boston  cor 
respondent  for  the  Detroit  Free  Press  for 
several  years;  he  sent  fugitive  bits  of 
verse  here  and  there ;  and  he  was  editorial 
contributor  to  the  Pilot  long  before  he 
became  a  permanent  member  of  its  staff. 
All  this  time  he  was  refraining  from  pub 
lishing  under  his  own  name.  He  wanted 
to  be  quite  sure  of  his  power  to  succeed 
before  he  took  the  public  into  his  con 
fidence. 

The  temperaments  of  the  two  men, 
their  common  nationality  and  intense  pa 
triotism,  the  ties  of  a  religion  which  bound 
them  still  more  firmly,  brought  John 
Boyle  O'Reilly  and  James  Jeffrey  Roche 
into  close  friendship  and  the  most  inti 
mate  relations.  The  former  was  the  edi 
tor-in-chief  of  the  Pilot,  and  he  became 
so  interested  in  his  young  and  clever  con- 

147 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

tributor,  recognising  to  the  full  his  abil 
ity,  that  he  prevailed  upon  him  to  shake 
off  the  fretting  trammels  of  a  business 
life  and  put  on  the  harness  of  the  editor, 
which  fitted  him  better,  and  become  assist 
ant  on  the  Pilot. 

This  was  in  1883 ;  and,  on  the  death  of 
Mr.  O'Reilly,  in  1890,  Mr.  Roche  suc 
ceeded  to  the  chief  editorship,  a  position 
which  he  has  held  ever  since,  conducting 
the  paper,  as  nearly  as  might  be,  on  the 
lines  laid  down  by  his  illustrious  prede 
cessor.  He  combines  two  qualities  not 
always  found  together,  —  discretion  and 
brilliancy.  He  is  a  master  of  trenchant 
sarcasm  and  a  sparkling  but  always  re 
fined  humour.  His  strong,  poetic  sensi 
bility  would  prevent  coarseness  or  any 
approach  to  it.  He  handles  political  top 
ics  most  ably,  and,  in  the  treatment  of 
the  still  broader  social  and  economic  ques- 
148 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

tions,  he  writes  with  a  strength  and  spirit 
worthy  of  the  associate  and  successor  of 
that  apostle  of  human  brotherhood,  John 
Boyle  O'Reilly. 

Like  his  predecessor,  whose  footsteps 
he  seems  to  follow  closely,  he  is  poet  and 
author,  as  well  as  newspaper  writer  and 
editor,  and  his  literary  tastes,  as  one  of  his 
friends  describe  them,  "  run  to  the  he 
roic  and  romantic  lines,  with  a  strong 
squint  seaward." 

For  the  latter,  there  is  a  legitimate  rea 
son.  Mr.  Roche's  sympathy  with  the  he 
roic  records  of  American  seamen  came 
largely  from  his  sympathy  with  the  life 
of  his  favourite  brother,  the  late  John 
Roche,  pay  clerk  in  the  United  States 
Navy,  who  died  a  hero's  death  in  the 
Samoan  disaster  of  March,  1889.  "  At 
Sea,"  a  poem  which  appeared  in  the  At 
lantic  Monthly  the  following  summer,  and 

149 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

of  caustic  criticism,  or  pungent  para 
graphs. 

Like  Mr.  Roche,  Mr.  Thomas  Russell 
Sullivan  is  a  Papyrus  man,  one  of  its 
past  presidents  and  a  still  active  member; 
and  like  Mr.  Roche,  Mr.  Sullivan  is  of 
Irish  descent,  although  he  is  not  so  near 
to  the  country  of  his  progenitors  as  the 
former.  But  he  has  the  gay  lighthearted- 
ness,  the  delicate  chivalry,  the  line  sense 
of  humour,  and  the  sparkling  wit,  which 
are  the  bequests  of  his  Celtic  forefathers. 

The  first  Sullivan  to  come  to  this  coun 
try  left  his  home,  Ardea  Castle,  in  Bantry 
Bay,  in  1723,  and  found  a  home  in  Ber 
wick,  Maine.  He  figures  in  Sarah  Orne 
Jewett's  latest  story,  "  The  Tory  Lover," 
and  he  was  a  well-known  character  of  the 
period.  He  taught  all  the  young  people 
of  the  time,  and  was  always  called 
"  Schoolmaster  Sullivan."  The  name 
152 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

originally  was  said  to  be  O'Sullivan,  and 
the  genealogist  has  traced  the  family  back 
to  the  O'Sullivan  Beare  of  Bearehaven,  a 
royal  Irishman.  But  the  member  of  the 
family  .who  came  to  America,  and  con 
tinued  the  line  here,  left  the  "  O  "  behind 
him  when  he  started  for  the  new  world, 
and  it  has  been  just  plain  Sullivan  ever 
since. 

"  Schoolmaster  Sullivan  "  continued  to 
be  schoolmaster  until  he  was  ninety  years 
of  age,  and  he  lived  to  celebrate  his  one 
hundred  and  fifth  birthday.  When  he 
was  in  middle  life  he  made  a  romantic 
marriage  with  a  young  girl  whom  he  met 
while  coming  to  this  country.  One  of 
his  sons  was  the  famous  Revolutionary 
general ;  another  son  was  governor  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  was  the  ancestor  of  the 
author. 

Thomas  Russell  Sullivan  was  born  in 

153 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Charles  Street,  Boston,  on  the  twenty- 
first  of  November,  1849.  His  father, 
who  was  also  Thomas  Russell  Sullivan, 
was  the  master  of  a  very  successful  pri 
vate  school,  in  the  rooms  under  the  Park 
Street  Church,  and  here  young  Sullivan 
began  his  education,  which  he  continued 
at  the  Boston  Latin  School.  Later  he 
went  into  business  and  spent  some  time 
abroad  in  its  interests.  He  made  the  most 
of  this  time,  and  laid  up  a  goodly  store 
of  material,  which  he  was  to  turn  to  prac 
tical  account  in  the  days,  then  undreamed 
of,  when  he  should  relinquish  business  for 
authorship. 

On  his  return  to  Boston,  in  1875,  he 
entered  the  large  banking-house  of  Lee  & 
Higginson,  and  three  years  later,  in  1878, 
he  made  his  first  entrance  into  the  ca 
reer  which  he  was  destined  to  follow.  His 
first  work  was  a  play,  "  Papa  Perrichon," 
154 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

an  adaptation  from  the  French,  which  was 
produced  at  the  Boston  Museum,  and  was 
afterward  taken  on  the  road  by  Mr.  Crane. 

This  play  was  followed  in  quick  suc 
cession  by  "  Midsummer  Madness,"  "  In 
dian  Summer,"  and  "  A  Cigarette  from 
Java,"  all  of  which  were  successful,  and 
have  kept  a  place  in  popular  dramatic 
literature  ever  since.  But  the  most  suc 
cessful  of  his  dramatisations,  from  every 
standpoint,  was  his  adaptation  of  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson's  remarkable  story  of 
"  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde."  This  dram 
atisation  was  authorised  by  Mr.  Steven 
son,  and,  on  its  completion,  Mr.  Richard 
Mansfield  bought  it  outright,  and  thus 
secured  control  of  all  the  rights  of  pro 
duction. 

His  first  novel,  "  Roses  of  Shadow," 
was  written  in  1885,  and  in  1888  Mr. 
Sullivan  left  business  to  devote  himself 

155 


LITEEARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Charles  Street,  Boston,  on  the  twenty- 
first  of  November,  1849.  His  father, 
who  was  also  Thomas  Russell  Sullivan, 
was  the  master  of  a  very  successful  pri 
vate  school,  in  the  rooms  under  the  Park 
Street  Church,  and  here  young  Sullivan 
began  his  education,  which  he  continued 
at  the  Boston  Latin  School.  Later  he 
went  into  business  and  spent  some  time 
abroad  in  its  interests.  He  made  the  most 
of  this  time,  and  laid  up  a  goodly  store 
of  material,  which  he  was  to  turn  to  prac 
tical  account  in  the  days,  then  undreamed 
of,  when  he  should  relinquish  business  for 
authorship. 

On  his  return  to  Boston,  in  1ST  5,  he 
entered  the  large  banking-house  of  Lee  & 
Higginson,  and  three  years  later,  in  1878, 
he  made  his  first  entrance  into  the  ca 
reer  which  he  was  destined  to  follow.  His 
first  work  was  a  play,  "  Papa  Perrichon," 
154 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

an  adaptation  from  the  French,  which  was 
produced  at  the  Boston  Museum,  and  was 
afterward  taken  on  the  road  by  Mr.  Crane. 

This  play  was  followed  in  quick  suc 
cession  by  "  Midsummer  Madness,"  "  In 
dian  Summer,"  and  "  A  Cigarette  from 
Java,"  all  of  which  were  successful,  and 
have  kept  a  place  in  popular  dramatic 
literature  ever  since.  But  the  most  suc 
cessful  of  his  dramatisations,  from  every 
standpoint,  was  his  adaptation  of  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson's  remarkable  story  of 
"  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde."  This  dram 
atisation  was  authorised  by  Mr.  Steven 
son,  and,  on  its  completion,  Mr.  Richard 
Mansfield  bought  it  outright,  and  thus 
secured  control  of  all  the  rights  of  pro 
duction. 

His  first  novel,  "  Roses  of  Shadow," 
was  written  in  1885,  and  in  1888  Mr. 
Sullivan  left  business  to  devote  himself 

155 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

exclusively  to  literary  pursuits.  He  has 
since  published  three  volumes  of  short 
stories  and  a  second  novel,  "  Tom  Syl 
vester." 

Mr.  Sullivan  is  a  great  social  favourite 
and  is  a  good  clubman,  being  besides  an 
enthusiastic  Papyrus  member,  a  loyal 
Tavern  clubman,  and  an  active  and  pop 
ular  member  of  the  Union,  the  St.  Bo- 
tolph,  and  the  Authors'  Clubs,  He  has 
a  frank,  earnest  expression,  and  a  manner 
thoroughly  charming  and  gracious,  alto 
gether  suggestive  of  birth  and  breeding. 
He  is  tall  and  erect,  walking  with  a  rapid, 
elastic  step,  and  a  military  bearing  which 
hints  of  a  long  line  of  soldierly  ancestors. 

As  a  writer,  Mr.  Sullivan  is  thoroughly 
conscientious,  and  a  perfect  master  of 
English.  He  is  his  own  most  severe 
critic,  and  is  nevor  satisfied  with  any  of 
his  work  until  it  is  polished  and  finished, 
156 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and  is  made  simply  direct.  This  sim 
plicity  of  diction  gives  a  virility  to  his 
writing,  reminding  one  of  what  the  late 
John  Fisk  was  accustomed  to  say :  "  Any 
attempt  at  the  ornate  weakens  the  work, 
and  the  best  rule  to  follow  in  writing  is 
to  use  short  Saxon  words,  in  terse,  direct 
sentences."  Said  one  of  Mr.  Sullivan's 
admirers :  "  It  is  interesting  to  take  up 
one  of  Sullivan's  books  at  random,  and, 
frank  and  simple  as  they  seem,  try,  and 
try  in  vain,  with  the  most  fastidious  crit 
icism,  to  suggest  a  change  which  would  be 
an  improvement,  even  in  minor  detail." 

Mr.  Sullivan  has  been  abroad  several 
times,  and  he  is  easily  conversant  with  the 
modern  tongues  of  Europe.  He  is  a  close 
student  of  literature  and  language,  and 
has  more  than  an  ordinary  knowledge  of 
the  humanities,  and  the  characters  of  his 
stories  are  drawn  from  this  ripened  as- 

157 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

similated  knowledge.  That  is  why  they 
are  so  delightfully  human  and  appealing. 

The  home  of  this  author  is  at  31  Massa 
chusetts  Avenue,  where,  to  quote  his  own 
words,  written  in  a  merry  letter  to  an  ac 
quaintance,  he  is  "  still  at  work  in  spite  of 
advanced  age  "  —  the  advanced  age  being 
a  trifle  over  fifty,  as  counted  by  years,  al 
though  in  spirit  he  is  nearer  the  quarter 
century  mark  than  half,  for  with  him 
the  wheels  of  time  seem  to  run  backward. 

Another  one  of  the  group  of  clever  men, 
of  whom  Roche  and  Sullivan  are  shining 
examples,  is  John  T.  Wheelwright,  who 
is  also  a  Papyrus  and  a  St.  Botolph  man, 
a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  an  author  by 
preference. 

Mr.  Wheelwright  was  born  in  Roxbury 

on  the  twenty-sixth   of  February,    1856, 

before  that  city  became  a  part  of  Boston, 

and  while  it  had  an  individuality  of  its 

158 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

own.  He  prepared  for  college  in  the  fa 
mous  high  school  of  the  city,  which  has 
had  a  noble  record  in  its  work  of  training 
boys  for  college  or  the  technical  schools, 
and  was  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1876. 
He  entered  the  Harvard  Law  School  im 
mediately  upon  his  graduation,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  Suffolk  Bar  in  1879. 

He  had  a  leaning  toward  newspaper 
life,  and  was  for  a  time  on  the  editorial 
staff  of  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  when 
that  paper  was  under  the  editorial  man 
agement  of  the  lamented  Delano  Goddard. 
One  of  his  first  hits  as  a  writer  was  a 
little  sketch  which  he  wrote  for  George 
Riddle,  a  skit  on  women's  sewing  socie 
ties.  It  was  a  clever  bit  of  work,  and  Mr. 
Riddle  made  a  genuine  success  with  it. 

But  the  law  made  so  many  demands 
upon  the  young  editorial  writer  that  he 
dropped  newspaper  work,  to  the  regret 

159 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

of  his  associates  in  the  Advertiser  office, 
with  whom  he  was  a  great  favourite,  and 
who  missed  their  genial  fellow  worker, 
who  was  always  ready  with  a  good  story, 
a  kindly  word,  and  who  never  lost  his 
serenity,  no  matter  what  was  the  stress 
of  the  hour. 

But,  although  Mr.  Wheelwright  said 
good-bye  to  newspaper  work,  he  did  not 
drop  his  pen,  and  he  wrote  something  be 
sides  briefs  with  it.  His  published  books 
are  "  Rollo's  Journey  to  Cambridge,"  "  A 
Child  of  the  Country,"  and  "A  Bad 
Penny."  He  has  also  written  much  mis 
cellaneous  matter  for  magazines  and  news 
papers.  A  critic,  speaking  of  his  book, 
"  A  Bad  Penny,"  says :  "  It  has  a  simple, 
old-time  flavour  which  reminds  one  of 
Maria  Edgeworth's  stories,  and  other 
pleasant  child  lore.  Some  readers  may 
be  impatient  with  the  simple  manner  of 
160 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

its  telling,  but  many  more  will  find  rest 
to  their  souls  in  a  narrative,  primitive, 
like  the  time  of  which  it  discourses,  and 
with  a  genuine,  unaffected  American 
flavour." 

Mr.  Wheelwright  was  appointed  park 
commissioner  by  the  late  Governor  Rus 
sell,  whose  personal  friend  he  was,  and 
he  has  served  in  other  official  capacities, 
always  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the 
good  of  the  special  service  in  which  he 
was  engaged.  His  home  is  at  99  Mt. 
Vernon  Street. 

Said  the  Bookman :  "  Even  looking  at 
the  matter  casually,  one  is  impressed  by 
the  close  connection  which  has  always  ex 
isted  between  law  and  literature.  Al 
though  lawyers  rarely  write  fiction  which 
treats  essentially  of  the  experiences  which 
come  to  them  through  the  practice  of  their 
profession,  there  has  never  been  a  time 

161 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

when  there  have  not  been  lawyers  writing 
novels,  and  good  novels.  Scott  was  a  bar 
rister.  Balzac  began  life  in  a  law  office. 
Thackeray  was  qualified  to  practise.  To 
day,  in  thinking  casually  of  our  own 
American  novelists,  we  recall  that  Judge 
Grant,  among  others,  belongs  to  the  legal 
profession." 

The  Bookman  might  have  found  an 
other  most  brilliant  and  striking  example 
without  going  out  of  Boston,  or  outside 
the  social  and  professional  circle  of  which 
Judge  Grant  is  a  distinguished  member. 
The  law  has  lent  to  literature  another 
man  of  whose  double  reputation  Boston 
is  justly  proud,  and  that  is  the  writer  on 
law  subjects,  whose  books  are  everywhere 
accepted  as  authority  upon  the  questions 
of  which  they  treat, — Mr.  Frederic  Jesup 
Stimson,  who  is  also  known  to  the  world 
of  fiction  readers  as  "  J.  S.  of  Dale." 
162 


LITERARY   BOSTON"   OF   TO-DAY 

Mr.  Stimson  was  born  in  Dedham,  the 
beautiful  old  shire  town  of  Norfolk 
County,  Massachusetts,  in  1855,  and  in 
this  delightful  place  his  boyhood  was 
passed,  in  the  midst  of  scenes  which  he 
has  pictured  in  his  historical  novel,  "  King 
Noanett."  Here  he  has  lived  all  his  life, 
calling  Dedham  home,  even  while  passing 
his  winters  in  his  town  house  in  Boston. 
He  was  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1876, 
in  the  same  class  with  John  T.  Wheel 
wright,  and  in  1878  from  the  Harvard 
Law  School.  He  was  the  assistant  at 
torney-general  of  Massachusetts  in  1884- 
85,  and  was  afterward  made  general 
counsel  to  the  United  States  Industrial 
Commission. 

In  view  of  his  comparative  youth,  for 
he  is  only  entering  middle  life,  Mr.  Stim 
son  has  accomplished  much  valuable  work. 
He  has  been  a  voluminous  writer  upon 

163 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

legal  subjects,  and,  in  spite  of  professional 
and  official  duties,  he  has  found  time  to 
make  several  fine  contributions  to  the  lit 
erature  of  the  time.  A  list  of  his  works 
would  read  like  a  library  catalogue,  and 
to  the  average  reader  many  of  the  titles 
would  convey  but  little  meaning,  although 
to  the  members  of  his  own  profession  they 
are  luminous  with  suggestion. 

To  Mr.  Stimson  belongs  the  distinction 
of  being  the  pioneer  in  the  field,  somewhat 
overworked  of  late,  of  the  historical  novel. 
"  King  Noanett "  was  one  of  the  earlier 
of  the  flood  of  recent  novels  which  deal 
with  American  colonial  life,  and  was  a 
notable  success.  "  Pirate  Gold  "  is  an 
other  of  Mr.  Stimson's  books  which  has 
gained  wide  popularity.  It  gives  a  good 
idea  of  Boston  in  its  early  days,  when  it 
was  the  leading  commercial  city  of  the 
country,  and  its  merchants  were  the 
164 


LITEEARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

princes  of  the  time.  These  are  but  two  out 
of  the  number  of  works  of  fiction  which 
Mr.  Stimson  has  written,  but  they  place 
him  in  the  front  rank  of  American  nov 
elists. 

Mr.  Stimson's  home  in  Dedham  is  just 
off  High  Street,  which  is  one  of  the  famous 
beautiful  streets  of  New  England,  al 
though  it  has  been  sadly  marred  by  per 
mitting  electric  cars  to  run  down  its  tree- 
shaded  length.  The  grounds  reach  to  the 
High  Street,  and  the  house  overlooks  the 
winding  Charles,  as  it  takes  its  sinuous 
way  through  the  meadows  of  Dedham,  its 
surface,  in  the  summer,  dotted  with  ca 
noes,  which  skilful  paddlers  are  propelling 
either  down  toward  Watertown,  from 
whence  the  first  Dedham  settlers  came  in 
canoes  almost  three  centuries  ago,  or  up 
river  toward  historic  Medfield,  over  the 
route  taken  by  Courtenay  and  Moore  in 

165 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

their  search  for  a  home.  Tall  trees,  older 
by  years  than  the  town  itself,  dot  the  lawn 
and  make  pleasant  shade  for  Mr.  Stim- 
son's  house.  A  delightful  place  it  is, 
either  to  rest  after  a  wearing  day  in  the 
courts  and  poring  over  law  books,  or  to 
dream  out  some  romance.  In  the  centre 
of  things,  yet  just  outside  them,  with  the 
dome  of  the  court-house  shadowing  one 
side,  it  is  an  ideal  place  for  the  home  of 
a  man  of  affairs,  who  is  also  an  idealist. 

Other  works  of  Mr.  Stimson  are 
"Guerndale,"  "The  Sentimental  Calen 
dar,"  "  The  Residuary  Legatee,"  "  In  the 
Three  Zones,"  "First  Harvest,"  and 
"The  Crime  of  Henry  Vane." 

Mr.  Stimson  is  a  member  of  the  Papy 
rus  Club,  and  also  of  the  Somerset  and 
Country  Clubs. 

Had  he  established  no  other  reputa 
tion,  Robert  Grant  would  be  known  all 
•  166 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

over  this  country  as  the  creator  of  Selma 
White.  Where  he  found  this  monstrous 
travesty  on  all  womanhood,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  tell,  although  there  is  no  com 
munity  of  any  size  where  she  has  not  been 
recognised,  and  her  acquaintances  have 
wondered  how  the  author  could  have 
known  anything  about  her.  The  probable 
truth  is  that  Judge  Grant  did  not  find  her 
at  all,  but  that  she  represents  to  his  mind 
the  type  of  a  certain  class  of  women  whose 
ambitions  trample  every  other  sentiment 
under  their  feet.  She  is  a  composite  crea 
tion,  this  heroine  of  "  Unleavened  Bread," 
and  no  doubt  the  author  intended  her  as 
a  solemn  warning  to  women  who  suffer 
from  virulent  social  ambition.  For  some 
time  after  the  appearance  of  the  book,  the 
clubwomen  raged  as  violently  as  the 
heathen  of  old,  but  the  tempest  seems  to 
have  died  down,  and  all  except  the  most 

167 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

irrational  among  them  now  admit  that 
there  was  a  grain  of  truth  underlying  the 
exaggerated  description,  and  cease  mak 
ing  themselves  ridiculous  by  their  femi 
nine  fulminations  against  it. 

Robert  Grant  was  born  in  Boston  in 
1850,  and  is  of  Scotch  descent,  his  grand 
father  coming  to  this  country  as  a  young 
man,  and  becoming  a  good  American, 
marrying  a  Boston  girl  of  position  and 
wealth.  He  (Robert  Grant)  was  fitted 
for  college  in  the  Boston  Latin  School, 
and  he  is,  as  one  of  his  friends  describes 
him,  "  thrice  a  Harvard  man,  Bachelor 
in  Arts,  Doctor  of  Philosophy  and  Law, 
in  1873,  '76,  '79." 

Judge  Grant  was  secretary  to  Doctor 
Samuel  A.  Green,  when  that  most  genial 
and  accomplished  gentleman  was  mayor 
of  Boston.  Then  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Water  Commission,  and  later  associate 
168 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

judge  of  probate,  which  position  he  still 
holds.  During  all  the  time  he  has  been 
steadily  advancing  in  his  literary  posi 
tion,  carrying  one  work  along  with  an 
other,  yet  never  neglecting  the  one  nor 
the  other.  He  was  none  the  less  the  faith 
ful  public  official  because  he  was  publish 
ing  novels  and  essays,  nor  was  his  literary 
work  any  the  less  convincing  for  being 
done  in  the  intervals  of  official  duties. 

To  quote  from  one  of  his  critics :  "  On 
the  whole,  his  literary  progress  may  be 
summarised  as  having  proceeded  from  the 
stories  of  realism  in  childhood  and  youth, 
through  the  novel  of  society,  to  the  ripe 
ness  of  the  essayist  of  men  and  manners, 
a  species  which  we  have  just  discovered 
to  be  peculiarly  and  distinctively  Ameri 
can,  and  in  which  our  best  writers  com 
bine  the  German  insight,  the  English  fair 
ness,  the  Hebraic  humour,  the  French 

169 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

delicacy  in  a  manner  which  seems  to  pos 
sess  the  field.  George  William  Curtis  was 
no  mean  man,  a  scholar,  a  gentleman,  a 
stylist;  but,  if  one  would  compare  the 
growth  of  a  generation,  it  is  only  neces 
sary  to  read  his  '  Potiphar  Papers  '  and 
Judge  Grant's  l  Art  of  Living '  con 
secutively.  The  latter  collection  is  so 
complete  in  its  grasp,  so  Horatian  in 
refinement,  so  absolute  in  its  comprehen 
siveness,  in  which  nothing  is  answered 
and  everything  suggested,  so  restrained  in 
humour,  that  one  lays  it  down  in  despair 
of  ever  reading  anything  else.  It  is  final." 
In  his  lovely  home  in  the  Bay  State 
Road,  in  Boston,  Judge  Grant  and  his 
charming  wife  dispense  a  gracious  hospi 
tality  to  their  many  friends,  and  are  them 
selves  convincing  exponents  of  "  The  Art 
of  Living." 

170 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

ARLO  BATES,  PEECIVAL  LOWELL,  JUSTIN 
H.  SMITH,  HENRY  CABOT  LODGE,  JOHN 
TORREY  MORSE,  AND  BRADFORD  TORREY 

(^TP^HERE  is  something  about  the  old 
I  West  End  of  Boston,  particularly 
that  portion  of  it  which  lies  on 
the  crest  of  Beacon  Hill,  that  lures  literary 
people  to  it.  Something  still  is  left  there 
of  the  spirit  of  old  Boston,  of  the  days 
before  the  Back  Bay  was,  or  ever  the  boule 
vard  was  builded;  business  has  not  suc 
ceeded  in  quite  elbowing  its  way  in;  it 
is  quiet  and  tree-sheltered*,  there  is  no 
jangle,  nor  car-gong,  nor  whir  of  the  trol 
ley.  It  is  in  the  very  heart  of  things,  yet 

171 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

it  is  set  discreetly  outside  the  bustle  and 
confusion,  the  noise  and  fret,  of  the  world's 
work  ways.  It  is  indescribably  fascinat 
ing,  and  especially  so  to  those  who  come 
to  Boston  from  other  parts  of  New  Eng 
land,  and  who  know  the  traditions  of  the 
beautiful  old  town  which  was  set  on  three 
hills.  And  so  it  is  that  Arlo  Bates,  Maine 
boy,  Bowdoin  graduate,  coming  here  fresh 
from  college,  and  making  his  way  to  a 
professorship  in  the  Massachusetts  Insti 
tute  of  Technology  by  the  way  of  the  news 
paper  editor's  chair  and  the  story -writer's 
craft,  settled  in  old  Chestnut  Street;  the 
quiet  street  that  makes  its  noiseless  way 
toward  the  setting  sun  and  the  broad  river, 
down  the  western  slope  of  the  hill.  Edwin 
Booth  had  his  Boston  home  in  this  street, 
and  here  the  famous  Radical  Club  lived 
out  its  short  and  brilliant  life  in  the 
hospitable  homes  of  Doctor  Bartol  and 
172 


AKLO    HATKS 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Reverend  John  T.  Sargent,  numbered  re 
spectively  13  and  17. 

Here,  surrounded  by  the  traditions 
which  make  for  cleverness  and  achieve 
ment,  in  the  stillest  street  in  the  city,  in 
a  small  house  of  cosy  snugness,  full  of  the 
weapons  and  tools  of  a  literary  man's  la 
bours,  Professor  Bates  finds  a  congenial 
atmosphere  for  a  home. 

Arlo  Bates  was  born  in  East  Machias, 
Maine,  on  the  sixteenth  of  December, 
1850.  His  father  was  a  physician,  and 
the  relation  between  the  little  growing  boy 
and  his  father  must  have  been  a  most  beau 
tiful  one,  to  judge  by  the  manner  in  which 
the  son  speaks  of  his  parent,  and  the  tone 
of  the  dedications  of  his  books.  The  same 
is  true  of  his  mother  and  his  affection  for 
her.  One  can  but  believe  that  the  family 
life  was  sweet  and  sympathetic,  and  that 

178 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

the  man's  ideal  of  home  was  builded  upon 
the  boy's  experience. 

As  was  the  proper  thing  for  a  good, 
loyal  State  of  Maine  boy,  he  was  sent  to 
Bowdoin  College,  the  college  which  was 
the  Alma  Mater  of  Longfellow  and  of  the 
recent  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Honourable 
John  D.  Long,  and  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1876.  He  had  early  deter 
mined  to  follow  literature  as  a  profession, 
and  naturally  he  turned  his  steps  Boston- 
ward.  He  must  live  while  he  was  wooing 
literary  success,  and  he  soon  found  himself 
in  the  editorial  harness,  having  taken  a 
position  as  editor  of  the  Sunday  Courier, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  he  became  the  Bos 
ton  correspondent  of  the  Providence  Jour 
nal.  But  the  editorial  harness  did  not 
fit  the  ambitious  young  fellow,  and  it 
galled  him  sadly.  He  did  not  hesitate 
to  express  himself  regarding  the  trend  of 
174 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

modern  journalism,  and  fretted  indescri 
bably,  although  he  saw  no  immediate 
opportunity  of  freeing  himself  from  its 
trammels.  He  was  in  a  perpetual  attitude 
of  protest  and  defiance  toward  that  arm  of 
the  newspaper  body  known  as  the  count 
ing-room,  and  that  same  arm  was  usually 
raised  in  defence  against  him,  although 
occasionally  the  attitude  changed  to  one 
of  offence.  He  was  a  conscientious  worker 
with  high  ideals,  which  he  could  not  make 
fit  into  the  surroundings  of  a  paper  pub 
lished  to  make  money  for  the  owners  in 
a  perfectly  honourable,  business  fashion, 
to  be  sure,  but  commercial  rather  than 
literary,  after  all. 

Still  Professor  Bates  remained  as  editor 
from  1880  to  1893,  when,  doubtless  to  his 
great  relief,  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of 
English  literature  in  the  Institute  of 
Technology,  and  thus  enabled  to  feel  the 

175 


LITEEARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

coming  accomplishment  of  the  aims  and 
ambitions  of  a  lifetime.  The  man  who 
is  largely  introspective,  who  looks  inside 
rather  than  out  for  his  working  material, 
is  out  of  place  in  newspaper  work,  and  out 
of  sympathy  with  it.  And  so  the  chair 
of  the  professor  is  more  comfortable  for 
one  like  Professor  Bates  than  would  be 
the  most  capacious  editorial  chair  in  the 
world. 

As  to  his  literary  work,  Professor  Bates 
has  given  to  the  world  some  very  bright 
and  clever  books  and  one  or  two  irritating 
ones.  But  there  is  always  an  advance, 
which  is  a  hopeful  sign  of  even  better 
things,  and  the  growth  is  the  more  as 
sured  because  the  author's  ideals  are  kept 
at  a  high  standard.  He  has  written  sev 
enteen  or  eighteen  novels,  the  most  talked 
of,  probably,  being  "  The  Pagans,"  "  The 
Philistines,"  and  "  The  Puritans,"  each 
176 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

of  which  created  a  sensation  on  its  appear 
ance/  "  A  Lad's  Love  "  and  "  A  Wheel 
of  Fire  "  were  also  widely  discussed  when 
they  appeared.  He  also  published  two 
helpful  volumes  of  "  Talks  on  Writing 
English"  and  "Talks  on  the  Study  of 
Literature." 

The  name  of  Percival  Lowell  is  promi 
nently  associated  with  Boston,  although 
he  is  more  apt  to  be  found  in  Mexico  or 
Arizona  or  the  far  East  than  in  his  native 
city.  He  still  keeps  a  home  in  Boston, 
however,  and  has  a  permanent  address 
here,  where  his  books  are  published.  Mr. 
Lowell  established  the  Lowell  Observa 
tory  in  1894,  and  is  a  member  of  many 
scientific  associations.  His  books  deal 
with  astronomical  arid  Oriental  topics, 
which  are  presented  in  a  popular  way, 
and  have  helped  to  do  honour  to  an  old 
Boston  name. 

177 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Like  Mr.  Lowell,  Professor  Justin  H. 
Smith,  of  the  chair  of  modern  history 
.in  Dartmouth  College,  keeps  a  Boston  ad 
dress,  having  been  connected  with  a  Bos 
ton  publishing  house  many  years  previous 
to  his  connection  with  the  New  Hampshire 
college.  As  Professor  Smith  is  a  member 
of  the  Boston  Authors'  Club,  and  will 
doubtless  return  to  take  up  his  abode  here 
in  due  course  of  time,  he  may  be  counted 
in  with  the  Boston  literary  set.  His  book, 
"  The  Troubadours  at  Home,"  is  the  most 
delightful  as  well  as  the  most  exhaustive 
work  on  that  subject  ever  published.  Pro 
fessor  Smith  was  graduated  at  Dartmouth 
College  in  1877,  and  has  travelled  much 
in  Europe,  acquiring  a  wide  knowledge 
of  history  and  political  economy,  with 
which  a  comprehensive  and  liberal  mind 
combines  to  render  him  a  valued  member 
of  society  wherever  he  goes. 
178 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Statesmen,  naturalists,  and  financiers, 
as  well  as  lawyers,  have  invaded  the  do 
main  of  literature,  and  the  literary  Boston 
of  to-day  numbers  notable  examples  in  its 
list  of  members.  In  this  connection,  the 
first  name  which  presents  itself  is  that  of 
the  Honourable  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  the 
junior  Senator  from  Massachusetts.  Mr. 
Lodge  comes  from  fine  old  Puritan  stock, 
and  was  born  in  Boston  on  the  twelfth 
of  May,  1850.  He  was  graduated  from 
Harvard  in  1871,  from  the  Harvard  Law 
School  in  1875,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1876. 

Although  born  in  Boston,  Senator 
Lodge  has,  according  to  the  Time  and  the 
Hour,  but  one  home.  "  The  beautiful 
house  on  Rhode  Island  Avenue  at  Wash 
ington,  where  he  passes  so  much  of  his 
time,  is  a  residence.  An  ample  and  agree 
able  one,  to  be  sure,  to  which  he  has  added 

179 


LITERACY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

a  handsome  library  and  many  adorn 
ments  ;  but  no  man  owning  and  inheriting 
such  an  estate  as  Eastern  Point,  Nahant, 
could  count  any  other  abiding-place  as  a 
real  home.  The  stranger  who  passes,  by 
sunken  ways,  —  contrived  to  prevent  the 
occupants  of  the  house  from  seeing  the 
visitors  to  the  cliffs,  who  might  otherwise 
use  the  public  right  of  access  to  the  water 
side  in  a  more  obnoxious  way,  —  through 
the  grounds  to  the  shore,  has  little  con 
ception  of  the  charm  which  the  situation 
possesses ;  rocks,  surf,  and  sea ;  a  glowing 
garden,  intensely  verdant  turf,  shrubbery, 
and  choice  glimpses  of  distant  shore ;  then 
a  great  burst  of  unlimited  ocean,  the  whole 
arched  under  a  dome  of  blue  sky  to  an 
horizon  broken  nowhere  by  ugly  lines  of 
human  structures,  alone  with  nature  in  its 
richest  perfection  and  most  absolute  con 
trast,  though  only  half  an  hour  from  the 
180 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

great  city.  Once  upon  a  time  the  Nahant 
Hotel  stood  in  these  grounds  before  Mr. 
Lodge's  father  acquired  the  property.  A 
famous  resort  it  was,  where  the  selectest 
Boston  families  met  equally  select  visitors 
from  the  South  and  other  parts  of  the 
country,  and  where  there  was  a  decorous 
and  fine  gaiety.  The  little  temple  on  the 
highest  point,  used  by  the  Lodges  as  a 
billiard-room,  was  an  appanage  of  the 
hotel,  destroyed  long  ago  by  fire. 

"  It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  how 
the  young  man,  who,  from  his  earliest 
years,  drew  in  the  influences  of  such  per 
fect  surroundings,  was  naturally  led  to  the 
calm  pursuits  of  scholarship,  which  pre 
ceded  his  entrance  into  active  political 
life.  Mr.  Lodge  was  the  scholar,  the  edi 
tor,  and  the  author  before  he  was  the 
politician,  which  he  has  been  since,  just 
escaping  being  the  statesman." 

181 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

Settled  very  early  in  life,  scarcely  past 
his  majority  when  he  took  his  wedding 
journey  to  Europe,  directly  after  his  grad 
uation  in  1871,  he  came  back  to  the  study 
of  law,  in  the  spirit  of  the  philosopher 
and  commentator  rather  than  the  possible 
practitioner.  He  won  his  Ph.  D.  by  a 
comprehensive  and  learned  treatise  upon 
the  "  Land  Law  of  the  Anglo-Saxons," 
while  he  lectured  in  his  alma  mater  upon 
American  history  from  1876  to  1879. 

It  is  in  the  Cabot  blood  still  to  be  ad 
venturous,  and  he  sought  a  newer  and 
wider  field  in  the  editorship  of  the  North 
American  Review  in  1876,  and  later,  from 
1879  to  1881,  in  connection  with  Mr. 
John  T.  Morse,  Jr.,  he  edited  the  Inter 
national  Review.  An  admirable  "  Short 
History  of  the  English  Colonies  in  Amer 
ica,"  and  a  correct  and  comprehensive 
"  History  of  the  Spanish- American  War  " 
182 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

are  excellent  exponents  of  the  value  of 
his  historical  work.  The  latter  must  be 
accepted  as  the  most  accurate  of  any  of 
the  numerous  histories  in  the  summing 
up  of  the  causes  leading  to  the  war,  since, 
from  his  position  as  Senator,  and  his  con 
sequent  knowledge  of  all  that  preceded  it, 
he  was  in  full  possession  of  the  minutest 
bit  of  detail  which  made  this  late  war 
with  Spain  inevitable. 

As  a  biographer,  he  has  given  to  the 
world  the  lives  of  Washington,  Hamilton, 
Webster,  and  of  his  great-grandfather, 
George  Cabot.  He  edited  the  works  of 
Hamilton,  and  he  also  compiled  —  as  a 
bit  of  pleasant  recreation  and  a  rest  from 
his  more  arduous  labours  —  one  of  the 
finest  collections  of  songs  and  ballads  ex 
tant.  His  taste  is  exquisitely  fine,  and 
he  makes  no  mistake  in  selection. 

All  this  work,  accomplished  by  a  man 

183 


LITERAEY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

who  has  only  just  passed  the  half -century 
mark,  indicates  an  industry  and  ability 
beyond  the  common  inheritance  of  those 
born  in  the  purple,  especially  when  it  is 
borne  in  mind  that,  besides  this,  which 
is  in  itself  a  large  work  of  achievement, 
Mr.  Lodge  has  been  making  all  along 
an  active  political  career,  delivering  Low 
ell  lectures,  fulfilling  the  duties  of  Har 
vard  overseer  and  of  the  local  functions 
which  naturally  fall  to  a  man  in  his 
position. 

His  political  career  must  alone  have 
required  great  attention  and  diligence, 
and  much  time.  It  began  with  his  service 
in  the  General  Court  in  1880  and  1881. 
He  went  to  Congress  in  1886,  and  his 
advancement  to  the  Senatorship  followed 
his  service  in  the  House,  while  he  went 
to  the  National  Republican  Conventions 
of  1880  and  1884.  There  is  probably 
184 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

no  more  scholarly  man  in  the  Senate  than 
the  junior  Senator  from  Massachusetts, 
and  he  is  the  recognised  leader  of  his 
party  in  that  body.  But  it  is  the  au 
thor,  and  not  the  politician,  that  we  have 
to  do  with,  and  in  the  literary  world 
Mr.  Lodge  holds  a  high  place  from  the 
breadth  and  quality  of  his  work,  and  his 
scholarly  method  of  treating  any  subject 
which  he  undertakes.  Boston  is  proud  to 
be  able  to  count  him  among  the  younger 
men  who  are  helping  to  hold  up  her  old 
traditions,  and  to  give  her  still  the  right 
of  claiming  to  be  a  literary  centre  of  power 
and  influence,  if  not  the  centre. 

One  of  the  men  who  was  for  awhile 
closely  connected  with  Mr.  Lodge,  in  the 
editorship  of  the  International  Review. 
was  Mr.  John  Torrey  Morse,  Jr.  Mr. 
Morse  was  born  in  Boston  on  the  ninth  of 
January,  1840,  and  was  graduated  from 

185 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Harvard  in  1860.  He  studied  law,  and, 
after  his  graduation  from  the  law  school, 
wrote  several  books  of  value  on  legal  sub 
jects,  prominent  among  which  are  books 
relating  to  banking  and  also  to  arbitration 
and  award.  These  books  are  considered 
authorities,  and  have  given  their  author 
a  prominent  place  in  the  list  of  writers 
on  law.  His  more  recent  work  has  been 
in  the  line  of  biography,  and  he  has  writ 
ten  a  life  of  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  and 
also  a  life  of  Alexander  Hamilton.  In 
the  American  Statesman  Series  of  Biog 
raphy,  he  wrote  the  lives  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  John  Quincy  Adams,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  John  Adams,  and  Benjamin 
Franklin.  Mr.  Morse's  home  is  at  No. 
16  Fairfield  Street,  in  the  Back  Bay  dis 
trict  of  Boston,  where  he  lives  surrounded 
by  all  that  goes  to  make  existence  flow 
smoothly  and  easily  along,  and  where  he 
186 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

is  still  busy  at  his  work.  There  is  nothing 
"  strenuous  "  in  his  mode  of  life,  and,  as 
he  says,  there  is  nothing  to  tell  about  it, 
except  the  story  of  pleasant  hours  of  con 
genial  work. 

Although  he  was  born  in  Weymouth; 
and  lives  now  in  Wellesley  Hills,  literary 
Boston  claims  the  naturalist  and  delight 
ful  writer,  Mr.  Bradford  Torrey,  as  be 
longing  to  her.  And  why  should  she  not, 
since  all  his  most  charming  work  first  sees 
the  light  of  day  through  the  pages  of  the 
Atlantic?  There  is  no  one,  not  even 
John  Burroughs,  who  seems  to  live  so 
near  to  Nature's  heart,  or  to  be  the  re 
cipient  of  so  many  of  her  secrets,  as  does 
Mr.  Torrey.  His  work  is  a  perpetual 
delight  from  its  perennial  freshness,  its 
convincing  quality,  and  its  absolute  natu 
ralness. 

He  was  born  in  Weymouth,  Massachu- 

187 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

setts,  on  the  ninth  of  October,  1843,  and 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools.  For 
the  rest,  he  must  have  taken  a  post-grad 
uate  course  in  the  woods  and  on  the  moun 
tains  and  hills  of  New  England.  By  no 
other  means  could  he  know  so  much  about 
the  birds,  the  trees,  the  wild  flowers,  of 
the  habits  of  Nature,  her  ways  and  her 
methods.  It  is  evident  that  he  lives  on 
terms  of  the  most  delightful  intimacy  with 
her,  and  that  she  takes  him  into  her  clos 
est  confidence,  else  how  could  he  tell  of 
her  so  delightfully  and  convincingly  as  he 
does? 

Mr.  Torrey  is  one  of  the  editors  of  the 
Youth's  Companion,  and  has  a  lovely  home 
in  Wellesley  Hills,  one  of  the  pleasant 
suburbs  of  Boston. 

Another  worker  along  historical  lines, 
who  belongs  to  the  group  of  men  at  pres 
ent  under  consideration,  is  Mr.  James 
188 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Ford  Rhodes,  who  calls  Boston  home, 
since  his  work  is  done  there  at  present, 
and  he  finds  in  it  a  congenial  atmosphere. 
He  was  born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  the 
first  of  May,  1848,  and  the  basis  of  his 
education  was  laid  in  the  excellent  public 
schools  of  that  pleasant  lake  city.  He 
was  afterward  at  the  University  of  New 
York,  going  from  there  to  the  University 
of  Chicago  for  special  lines  of  work,  al 
though  he  did  not  take  a  degree.  His 
specialty  is  history,  to  which  he  devotes 
himself  exclusively,  and  his  most  ambi 
tious  work  has  been  the  "  History  of  the 
United  States  since  the  Compromise  of 
1850." 


189 


CHAPTER   IX. 

ELIZA  ORNE  WHITE,  AGNES  BLAKE  POOR, 
ANNA  FULLER,  HELEN  LEAH  REED,  AND 
EVELYN  GREENLEAF  SUTHERLAND 


X~\NE  of  the  best  short  stories  ever 
f  i  printed  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly 
was  "  A  Browning  Courtship." 
Its  author  was  Miss  Eliza  Orne  White, 
whose  "  Miss  Brooks,"  a  novel  appearing 
about  the  same  time,  attracted  attention 
to  a  new  writer  of  originality  and  genuine 
humour.  Miss  White's  ascent  to  fame 
has  been  a  gradual  one,  though  she  has 
written  all  her  life.  It  is  said  that  her 
ambition  was  always  to  write  a  long  novel 
rather  than  short  stories;  and  that  she 
190 


LITEEARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

wrote  one  at  the  age  of  fourteen  that  she 
considers  better  than  anything  else  she  did 
for  years  after.  Her  first  published  work 
was  some  children's  stories  for  the  Chris 
tian  Register.  By  degrees  she  worked  on, 
her  "  Browning  Courtship,"  however,  be 
ing  the  first  thing  that  attracted  public 
interest,  and  this  not  until  she  was  thirty- 
two  or  thirty-three.  She  has  written 
steadily  since,  and  her  stories  are  now 
well  known  in  England  as  well  as  here. 

Miss  White  lives  in  a  delightful  old 
house  with  extensive,  well-shaded  grounds 
in  Brookline.  The  house  has  the  fine 
literary  atmosphere  characteristic  of  Bos 
ton's  best;  and,  although  the  encroach 
ments  of  modern  progress  are  drawing 
disagreeably  near,  it  stands  so  far  back 
from  the  street  that  the  overhanging  trees 
shut  out  the  proximity  of  trolley-cars,  and, 
ere  the  caller  has  traversed  the  winding; 

o 

191 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

pathway  up  the  picturesque  knoll  to  the 
house,  he  has  forgotten  the  rushing  world, 
and  dreams  only  of  sylvan  solitudes.  In 
side  the  roomy  house  there  are  spacious 
apartments,  with  cosy  corners  and  beauti 
ful  old  furniture,  with  fine  pictures  and 
plenty  of  books,  and,  best  of  all,  a  digni 
fied,  genial  old  father  and  a  silver-haired, 
delicate  little  mother,  who  form  exactly 
the  right  background  for  Miss  White, 
who,  after  all,  has  often  to  wrestle  with 
the  disadvantages  of  a  woman's  career. 
She  is  a  housekeeper  at  home,  and  nurse 
as  well,  and  for  months  at  a  time  is  un 
able  fo  get  to  her  writing  at  all.  This 
makes  her  feel  as  if  she  were  leading  a 
dual  existence;  and  when  she  is  not  actu 
ally  writing,  she  forgets  that  she  is  ever 
such  a  thing  as  a  literary  person. 

With  regard  to  her  working  habits',  the 
same  circumstances  keep  her  from  being 
192 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

regular.  She  prefers  to  work  in  the  morn 
ing.  Working  late  in  the  day  keeps  her 
from  sleeping  at  night.  She  can  write 
about  four  thousand  words  in  a  day,  but 
that  is  when  she  is  copying,  rarely  while 
she  is  composing. 

Miss  White  does  not  devote  much  at 
tention  to  style,  although  she  revises  and 
polishes  her  work  very  carefully.  She  be 
lieves  the  more  she  polishes  her  writing, 
the  more  spontaneous  it  appears.  She 
likes  to  write  straight  ahead  first,  even 
though  it  involves  the  frequent  repetition 
of  the  same  word.  This  defect  she  is  care 
ful  to  correct  afterward. 

Miss  White's  characters  are  very  real 
to  her,  —  they  even  "  write  themselves." 
She  finds  it  impossible  to  change  even 
their  names,  once  they  have  been  chris 
tened.  Her  mother,  who  takes  the  keenest 
interest  in  her  daughter's  work,  once  ob- 

193 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

jected  to  the  name  of  one  of  Miss  White's 
heroines,  and  wanted  her  to  change  it. 
The  author,  in  deference  to  her  mother's 
wishes,  tried  various  other  names,  but 
none  of  them  would  do,  and  she  was  finally 
obliged  to  come  back  to  the  original  ap 
pellation,  as  the  only  one  that  was  at  all 
natural. 

This  illusion  of  reality  is  so  strong  that 
she  is  not  willing  to  alter  her  stories  rad 
ically  when  once  they  have  got  written 
down.  She  had,  by  her  publisher's  re 
quest,  to  shorten  "  Miss  Brooks  "  consider 
ably,  cutting  out  certain  scenes  and 
shortening  others,  but  the  result  was  not 
satisfactory  to  her.  She  has  the  feeling 
common  to  most  writers  endowed  with 
originality,  that  rewriting  a  book,  or  any 
portion  of  it,  to  gratify  the  desires  of 
publishers  or  critics,  destroys  in  a  degree 
her  sense  of  creation  and  possession.  And 
194 


XITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

yet  to  assist  her  judgment  toward  a  more 
reasonable  mean,  she  likes  to  read  her 
manuscripts  to  friends,  and,  in  this  way, 
by  noting  the  impression  made,  thinks  she 
becomes  quite  a  good  critic  of  her  own 
work. 

She  rather  makes  a  point  of  avoiding 
the  study  of  people  for  the  sake  of  making 
use  of  them  in  her  books,  and  thinks  that 
characters  in  fiction  are  less  often  exact 
portraits  from  real  life  than  is  usually 
supposed. 

Miss  White's  own  favourite  among  her 
books  is  "  Winterborough  " ;  not  that  she 
thinks  it  is  really  her  best,  but  because 
she  values  its  associations.  It  represents 
the  scenes  among  which  she  grew  up,  and 
the  people  who  surrounded  her  youth. 
Curiously  enough,  the  author's  favourite 
is  seldom  that  of  the  public.  Mrs.  Deland 
confesses  to  a  particular  fondness  for 

195 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

"  The  Wisdom  of  Fools,"  and  Miss  Jewett 
to  "  The  Country  of  the  Pointed  Firs," 
and,  while  both  of  these  were  well  re 
ceived,  neither  of  them  have  sold  as  well 
as  other  books  by  the  same  author. 

Miss  White's  last  book  is  "  John  For- 
syth's  Aunts,"  and  this  was  preceded  by 
"  A  Lover  of  Truth,"  "  The  Coming  of 
Theodora,"  "Winterborough,"  "A  Brown 
ing  Courtship  and  Other  Stories,"  "  Miss 
Brooks,"  and  several  fascinating  chil 
dren's  books. 

Among  Miss  White's  neighbours  is  her 
friend,  Miss  Blanche  M.  Channing,  of 
the  famous  Channing  family,  an  earnest 
philanthropist  and  a  successful  writer  of 
children's  books,  "  Winifred  West "  and 
others. 

Miss  Agnes  Blake  Poor,  whose  short 
stories  have  attracted  considerable  atten 
tion  in  the  leading  magazines,  is  another 
196 


LITERARY   BOSTOX    OF    TO-DAY 

Brookline  writer.  Miss  Poor  has  a  pleas 
ant  house  on  Walnut  Street,  with  summer 
quarters  at  Andover,  Maine.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  Henry  Varnum  Poor, 
banker  and  editor.  Her  first  book, 
"  Brothers  and  Strangers,"  appeared  in 
1894,  and  her  second,  "  Boston  Neigh 
bours,"  was  particularly  well  received. 
She  has  written  much  for  magazines  and 
periodicals,  under  the  pen-name  of  "  Dor 
othy  Prescott,"  but  of  late  has  more  often 
used  her  own  name  in  full. 

Mrs.  Thomas  Aspinwall  (born  Alicia 
Towne)  is  another  Brookline  writer  who 
is  making  a  reputation  with  her  stories 
for  young  people. 

When  "  Pratt  Portraits  "  appeared  in 
1892,  it  created  a  sensation,  and  attracted 
immediate  attention  to  its  author,  Miss 
Anna  Fuller,  a  Cambridge  woman  of 
charming  address,  unusual  brilliancy,  and 

197 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

remarkable  powers  of  observation.  Her 
first  book,  the  "  Pratt  Portraits,"  was  not 
published  until  her  thirty-eighth  year. 
This  was  not  because  she  did  not  have 
an  impulse  toward  writing  from  her  earli 
est  years;  indeed,  she  has  told  some  one 
that  it  was  only  the  disproportionate  price 
of  paper  compared  with  her  pocket-money 
that  prevented  the  greatest  American 
novel  from  being  written  by  her  at  the 
age  of  twelve.  But  the  exigencies  of  earn 
ing  her  living  by  less  congenial  occupa 
tions,  which  seemed  more  immediately 
remunerative,  prevented  her  from  having 
the  necessary  leisure  to  make  a  literary 
experiment.  She  began  writing  as  soon 
as  she  had  time  to  devote  to  it,  for  she 
claims  that  a  certain  leisure  from  the 
primitive  anxieties  of  existence  was  neces 
sary  before  the  imagination  can  set  to 
work. 

198 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

The  "  Pratt  Portraits  "  was  not  her  first 
appearance  in  print,  however.  She  made 
her  debut  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  with  a  letter 
from  Germany.  The  editor  was  so  pleased 
with  this  that  he  expressed  a  desire  for 
more,  but  Miss  Fuller  was  so  abashed  by 
her  sudden  success  that  she  could  not 
pluck  up  courage  to  repeat  the  experiment. 

Her  most  popular  book  in  this  country 
has  been  "  A  Literary  Courtship."  It 
may  be  of  some  comfort  to  struggling 
authors,  whose  excellent  manuscripts  are 
continually  rejected,  to  know  that  this 
book,  like  many  another  popular  novel, 
ran  the  gauntlet  of  innumerable  refusals 
before  it  was  finally  accepted;  and  that 
then,  when  the  book  had  appeared  and 
been  a  success,  one  of  the  firms  that  had 
refused  it,  when  it  was  first  offered,  wrote 

199 


LITEKAEY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

innocently  to  Miss  Fuller,  asking  her  to 
write  a  story  on  similar  lines  for  them. 

Indeed,  it  would  seem  sometimes  that 
seven  proves  a  lucky  number  to  the  strug 
gling  author,  for  some  of  the  most  suc 
cessful  books,  like  "  David  Harum," 
"Eben  Holden,"  "King  Noanett,"  and 
others,  were  rejected  by  seven  publishers 
before  finally  seeing  the  light  of  the 
printed  page. 

As  to  "  A  Literary  Courtship,"  those 
who  have  read  the  story  will  remember 
that  it  hinges  on  the  adoption  of  a  fem 
inine  nom-de-guerre  by  a  masculine  writer. 
An  astute  English  critic,  the  critic  of  the 
Pall  Mall  Gazette,  insisted  that  the  writer 
was  playing  the  same  trick,  and  was  evi 
dently  a  man,  in  spite  of  the  name  "  Anna 
Fuller  "  on  the  title-page. 

Miss  Fuller's  impulse  is  to  write  off 
her  story  in  the  rough  at  first,  and  then 
200 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

to  prune  and  revise  it  exhaustively.  She 
thinks  there  is  a  danger  of  spoiling  the 
spirit  of  a  story  if  one  potters  over  the 
sentences  as  one  goes  along ;  and  that  there 
is  unwisdom  in  working  against  the  grain, 
in  trying  to  force  inspiration  when  the 
inspiration  is  not  there.  When  the  im 
pulse  of  inclination  is  strongest,  then  is 
the  writing  most  likely  to  be  worth  read 
ing,  a  truth  accepted  by  most  authors. 
Like  many  another  writer,  too,  Miss  Ful 
ler  has  a  feeling  that  each  book  she  writes 
is  worse  than  the  last,  and  she  is  always 
in  the  depths  of  despair  before  the  pub 
lication  of  every  one,  lest  it  should  not 
please.  Partly  for  this  reason,  she  likes 
to  read  over  her  work  to  friends  before 
hand  to  be  criticised  and  encouraged. 

Besides  the  books  already  mentioned, 
she  has  written  "  Peak  and  Prairie  from 
a  Colorado  Sketch-Book,"  "  A  Venetian 

201 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

June,"  "  One  of  the  Pilgrims/'  and 
"  Katherine  Day."  Miss  Fuller  lives  in 
artistic  apartments  at  191  Commonwealth 
Avenue,  Boston. 

A  few  doors  below  lives  Miss  Helen 
Leah  Reed,  whose  "  Brenda  "  stories  are 
fast  making  her  name  a  household  word 
wherever  there  are  young  girls.  Miss 
Reed  was  graduated  from  Boston  schools, 
and  then  took  the  course  at  Radcliffe  Col 
lege,  in  the  old  days  when  it  was  still  the 
"  Harvard  Annex,"  and  she  was  the  first 
young  woman  to  win  the  Sargent  Prize 
for  the  best  translation  from  the  Greek. 
After  taking  her  degree  from  the  "  An 
nex,"  Miss  Reed  went  on  to  the  editorial 
force  of  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  but 
after  a  few  months  resigned  the  place  in 
order  to  devote  herself  to  purely  literary 
work.  Since  that  time,  however,  she  has 
done  a  good  deal  of  desultory  writing  for 
202 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

the  Boston  Transcript,  for  Chicago  papers, 
and  for  syndicates.  Her  first  book  was  a 
novel,  "  Miss  Theodosia  " ;  but  in  writing 
for  girls,  as  she  has  done  since,  Miss  Reed 
seems  to  have  found  her  metier,  and  is 
establishing  a  reputation  for  conscientious 
and  painstaking,  as  well  as  fascinating, 
work. 

Still  farther  up  the  avenue,  one  may 
find,  as  mistress  of  Doctor  John  Preston 
Sutherland's  home,  another  woman  who 
is  fast  making  a  name,  not  as  a  novelist 
or  juvenile  writer,  but  as  playwright. 
Evelyn  Greenleaf  Sutherland  began  her 
literary  work  as  dramatic  critic  for  sev 
eral  Boston  newspapers,  during  which 
period  she  wrote  many  notable  short  sto 
ries,  as  "  Dorothy  Lundt,"  taking  the 
prize  in  McClure's  short  story  competi 
tion,  in  1894,  with  an  army  story,  "  Dik- 
kin's  Dog."  Her  interest  in  the  drama, 

203 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and  her  wide  acquaintance  among  theat 
rical  people,  however,  turned  her  serious 
work  in  the  way  of  play-writing,  a  field 
where  she  is  winning  laurels  and  achieving 
excellent  results.  Two  books  of  one-act 
plays  have  been  produced,  "  Po'  White 
Trash,"  and  "  In  Office  Hours."  At  first 
she  collaborated  with  Emma  Sheridan 
Frye,  former  leading  lady  at  the  Boston 
Museum  and  with  Richard  Mansfield. 
Later  she  collaborated  with  General 
Charles  King  in  "  Fort  Frayne,"  and  with 
Booth  Tarkington  dramatised  "  Beau- 
caire  "  for  Mr.  Mansfield.  Mrs.  Suther 
land  is  well  known  to  a  large  circle  of 
friends,  belongs  to  several  leading  clubs, 
and  is  a  popular  woman,  endowed  with 
executive  ability,  originality,  and  a  keen 
wit ;  add  to  this  that  she  is  an  affable  and 
charming  hostess,  and  it  will  be  unneces 
sary  to  add  that  her  "  Sunday  evenings  " 
204 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

are  enjoyed  by  many  noted  players  while 
they  are  in  Boston,  as  well  as  many  ap 
preciative  people  whose  names  are  scarcely 
well  known. 

Mary  Devereux,  whose  "  From  King 
dom  to  Colony  "  has  been  widely  read  and 
discussed,  is  a  resident  of  Boston,  and 
lives  in  a  quiet  way  at  that  famous  hos 
telry,  the  Parker  House.  Mary  Knight 
Potter  is  another  Bostonian  who  is  com 
ing  to  the  front  in  the  world  of  letters,  if, 
indeed,  she  has  not  already  arrived.  Her 
"  Love  in  Art "  is  a  delightful  book, 
and  "  Councils  of  Cro3sus  "  is  one  of  the 
best  novels  of  the  day,  while  among  the 
juveniles  she  is  known  and  loved  for 
her  graphic  representation  of  "  Peggy's 
TriaL" 


205 


CHAPTEK    X. 

JOSEPHINE  PRESTON  PEABODY,  BEULAH 
MARIE  DIX,  CAROLINE  TICKNOR,  ELIZA 
BETH  PHIPPS  TRAIN,  MARY  TAPPAN 
WRIGHT,  LILIAN  SHUMAN,  AND  GERAL- 
DINE  BROOKS 

"  '    JT'VE  decided  what  I'm  going  to  be 
i      when  I  grow  up/  announced  Ali 
son,  at  the  mature  age  of  eight  one 
day,  '  I'm  going  to  be  a  poet.'     And  then 
after  a  serious  moment,  —  (  And  if  I  am, 
I  hope  I'll  be  a  good  one..' ' 

If  this  was  the  youthful   ambition  of 

Josephine  Preston  Peabody,  the  gods  were 

indeed  good,   and   granted   all  her  wish, 

for,  although  she  will  not  round  out  her 

206 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

third  decade  for  some  years  yet,  the  critics 
have  already  relegated  her  to  one  of  the 
highest  seats  on  Olympus  with  American 
poets. 

Miss  Peabody  claims  that  her  biog 
raphy  can  be  condensed  into  eight  words: 

I  was  born 

and 
I  still  am  here. 

But  there  are  a  few  intermediate  facts 
of  interest  to  other  people.  She  was  born 
in  New  York,  moved  to  Dorchester  when 
she  was  eight  years  old,  and  lived  the  life 
of  a  suburban  child  till  she  moved  to 
Cambridge  in  1900.  Her  education  was 
in  the  Girls'  Latin  School  (after  the  sub 
urban  grammar  school)  and  two  years' 
special  study  at  Radcliffe ;  "  and  trudging 
back  and  forth  from  libraries,"  she  said, 
in  a  recent  interview,  "  and  writing  all 
kinds  of  things  ever  since  I  could  write 

207 


LITEEARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

at  all.  I  have  always  written  much  verse 
and  dramatic  scraps  from  the  very  first, 
likewise  stories,  short  and  long,  when  I 
was  a  child.  As  I  grew  up,  prose  dwin 
dled  and  poetry  grew;  but  I  look  back 
upon  an  almost  unbroken  history  of  think 
ing  and  of  solitary  work  at  the  problem 
of  getting  one's  ideas  clear  to  oneself  and 
to  other  people.  The  career  of  writers 
is  not  attractive  to  me,  however.  As  a 
child,  I  should  have  chosen  to  be  an  artist 
of  some  kind;  but  while  I  was  amusing 
myself  with  plays  and  paint-boxes,  my 
semi-conscious  expression  of  myself,  by 
way  of  prose  and  dramas  and  doggerel 
verse,  was  going  on  at  a  rate  that  I  never 
realised.  My  sister  Marion  became  the 
artist  (it  is  she  who  designed  my  first 
two  book-covers),  and  I  kept  on  with  the 
medium  that  had  half  developed  itself. 
"When  I  went  to  the  Latin  School,  I 
208 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

put  many  verses  in  the  school  paper;  a 
few  of  them  were  dramatic  bits  on  the 
subjects  given  out  for  school  compositions 
(Penelope  in  '  The  Wayfarers '  started 
out  in  this  way).  But  the  first  thing 
accepted  by  an  important  magazine  was 
'  The  Shepherd  Girl/  a  poem  which  Hor 
ace  Scudder  accepted  for  ,the  Atlantic 
Monthly.  Through  it,  I  met  him,  and  he 
was  the  first  man  of  letters  who  ever  spoke 
with  authority  of  my  work,  or  gave  me 
literary  counsel;  perhaps  I  should  say 
encouragement.  For  I  was  never  cheered 
on,  as  a.  child,  and  never  discouraged.  I. 
merely  wanted  to  please  myself,  without 
precept  or  prospect." 

Doubtless  this  lack  of  interference  had 
much  to  do  with  the  development  of  the 
poet,  and  anxious  mothers  might  draw  a 
lesson  from  it  if  they  would.  Miss  Pea- 
body  lives  in  Cambridge  with  her  mother 

209 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and  her  sister,  the  decorative  designer, 
and  has  recently  taken  the  place  of  Pro 
fessor  Vida  Scudder  at  Wellesley  College, 
giving  courses  of  English  literature.  Her 
work  covers  a  collection  of  old  Greek  folk- 
stories,  "  The  Wayfarers,"  "  Fortune  and 
Men's  Eyes,"  and  "  Marlowe,"  the  latter, 
especially,  a  fine  illustration  of  her  claim 
that,  while  it  may  be  inconvenient  to  be 
given  to  poetry  in  a  time  when  so  few 
people  care  for  poetry,  that  that  is  a  mat 
ter  she  cannot  seem  to  change;  and  also 
that  nothing  seems  to  give  her  the  con 
genial  scope  and  exhilaration  of  the  big 
drama. 

A  neighbour  of  Miss  Peabody's  is  an 
other  of  Boston's  young  literary  workers. 
Beulah  Marie  Dix  lives  at  77  Larch  Road 
with  her  family,  a  diligent  literary  worker 
who  has  apparently  grasped  the  fact  that 
hard  work  has  something  to  do  with 
210 


LITEEAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

genius  and  more  especially  with  success. 
Her  father's  people  are  of  English  de 
scent,  and  have  been  in  the  vicinity  of 
Watertown  ever  since  1640.  Edwin  Asa 
Dix,  the  author  of  "  Deacon  Bradbury," 
is  her  father's  third  cousin.  Her  mother 
came  from  Machias,  Maine.  She  is 
a  great-great-granddaughter  of  Gideon 
O'Brien,  one  of  the  six  O'Brien  broth 
ers  who  had  a  hand  in  the  capture  of 
the  British  sloop  Margaretta  in  Machias 
lower  bay,  the  first  naval  battle  of  the 
Revolution,  which  may  have  given  Miss 
Dix  her  taste  for  colonial  scrimmages. 
She  was  born  at  Plymouth,  Massachu 
setts,  December  twenty-fifth,  1876,  in  the 
days  before  the  trail  of  summer  visitors 
was  over  the  town.  She  passed  her  first 
twelve  years  of  life  very  happily  there, 
attending  school  as  little  as  possible  till 
she  was  ten,  reading  everything  she  could 

211 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

lay  her  hands  on,  and  playing  alone  a 
great  deal.  In  1889,  her  family  moved 
to  Chelsea,  where  she  entered  the  high 
school,  worked  steadily,  read  the  valedic 
tory,  and  entered  college  in  1893,  going 
to  Radcliffe,  at  that  time  Harvard  Annex. 
She  was  the  kind  that  they  call  a  "  sport 
ing  grind,"  —  played  basket-ball  and 
went  to  club  meetings  and  rehearsed  plays 
all  day,  and  then  studied  most  of  the  night. 
She  did  a  good  deal  of  English  and  his 
tory,  besides  the  necessary  amount  of  lan 
guages,  living  and  dead.  In  1897,  she 
took  the  degree  of  B.  A.,  summa  cum 
laude,  and  with  highest  honours  in  Eng 
lish,  and  received  for  her  honour  thesis 

—  subject,     "  Published     Collections     of 
English  and  Scottish  Ballads,  1765-1802  " 

—  the   George   B.    Sohier    Prize   of   two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.     This  prize  is 
given  "  for  the  best  thesis  presented  by 

212 


LITERACY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

a  successful  candidate  for  Honours  in 
English  or  Modern  Literature,"  whether 
an  undergraduate  of  Harvard,  a  Harvard 
graduate  studying  in  the  graduate  school, 
or  a  student  of  Radcliffe.  Miss  Dix  is 
particularly  pleased  with  that  prize,  claim 
ing  it  is  the  one  thing  in  life  that  she  is 
proud  of.  "  Everybody,  particularly  every 
young  woman,"  she  says,  "  writes  blood 
and  thundery  historical  novels  nowadays; 
but  every  young  woman  does  not  take  the 
Sohier  prize."  On  the  strength  of  it,  she 
returned  to  college  for  a  year  of  graduate 
work,  and  took  her  degree  of  M.  A.  in 
1898. 

She  began  writing  little  stories  when 
she  was  seven  or  eight,  and  began  telling 
them  to  herself  o'  nights  much  younger. 
She  plunged  into  the  theme  courses,  and 
by  a  stroke  of  luck  sold  to  Lippincott's 
Magazine  one  of  her  sophomore  themes, 

213 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

which  was  published  in  1895.  This  suc 
cess  encouraged  her  to  write  other  stories, 
and  then  she  took  to  play-writing.  In  her 
junior  year  she  wrote  a  little  romantic 
play  for  the  college  girls,  and  published 
it  under  the  name  of  "  Cicely's  Cavalier." 
Other  one-act  comedies  of  the  same  period 
were  given  at  college,  one  by  the  Cam 
bridge  Dramatic  Club,  and  two  of  them, 
"  Apples  of  Eden "  and  "  At  the  Sign 
of  the  Buff  Bible,"  were  played  in  New 
York  by  the  pupils  of  the  Empire  Theatre 
Dramatic  School  (Franklin  H.  Sargent) 
in  1897  and  1898. 

In  her  graduate  year  at  college,  Miss 
Dix  had  taken  all  the  English  theme  work 
that  there  was  to  do,  so  she  started  to 
write  a  little  book  for  boys,  taking  a  plot 
she  had  in  mind  for  several  years,  and 
"  Hugh  Gwyeth,  a  Roundhead  Cavalier  " 
was  the  result.  Just  at  that  time  she  got 
214 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

a  chance  to  do  a  child's  story  about  the 
Pilgrims,  for  the  Macmillan  Company, 
and  ventured  to  send  them  "  Hugh  Gwy- 
eth."  They  accepted  it,  and  it  was 
brought  out  in  the  spring  of  1899.  All 
this  time  she  was  writing  short  plays  and 
stories.  Some  of  the  later  got  into  print 
in  Short  Stories  and  The  Delineator  and 
Lippincott's.  In  the  fall  of  1899  Mac 
millan  published  "  Soldier  Rigdale,"  a 
story  of  early  Plymouth;  and  then  Miss 
Dix  settled  down  to  serious  work,  as  she 
called,  on  a  real  novel  that  she  had  had  in 
mind  for  four  or  five  years.  It  was  pub 
lished  in  the  spring  of  1901,  under  the 
title  of  "  The  Making  of  Christopher  Fer- 
ringham."  "  A  Little  Captive  Lad,"  a 
story  of  England  in  the  year  1650,  is  just 
appearing,  and  so  is  a  novel,  called  "  The 
Beau's  Comedy,"  on  which  Miss  Dix  and 
her  friend  and  fellow  collegian,  Miss  Car- 

215 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

rie  Harper,  collaborated.  She  has  also 
done  a  good  deal  of  play-writing  lately 
with  her  friend,  Evelyn  Greenleaf  Suther 
land. 

She  lives  very  quietly  at  Cambridge 
with  her  family,  never  travels,  reads  a 
little  in  the  Harvard  library  before  she 
writes  about  anything,  —  a  method  quite 
unfashionable  among  young  women  writ 
ers.  In  "  Christopher  Ferringham,"  she 
tried  to  give  her  own  view  on  life  and  a 
man's  life  and  the  doctrine  of  regenera 
tion  by  hard  labour,  and  also  her  views 
on  what  the  Massachusetts  Puritans  of 
1650  were.  The  book  is  usually  judged 
as  a  "  rattling  story  of  adventure."  "  Of 
course  I  shall  always  write,"  says  Miss 
Dix.  "  It  is  a  teasing  trade.  I  don't 
know  that  I  want  to  drop  it ;  I  suppose  I 
couldn't  if  I  wanted  to."  As  to  her  meth 
ods  of  work,  she  writes  with  pencil  on 
216 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

yellow  paper,  and  rewrites  and  revises, 
and  typewrites  and  revises  again,  and  then 
re-typewrites  and  prints.  Then  the  critics 
tell  her  how  she  ought  to  have  done  it. 

Over  in  Jamaica  Plain  another  young 
woman  is  doing  a  great  deal  of  excellent 
literary  work  in  her  quiet  way,  and  doing 
honour  to  the  fine  old  name  she  bears. 
Miss  Caroline  Ticknor  is  a  daughter  of 
Benjamin  Holt  Ticknor,  publisher,  and 
granddaughter  of  William  D.  Ticknor, 
founder  of  the  historic  publishing  house 
of  Ticknor  &  Fields.  Miss  Ticknor,  who 
has  for  the  past  five  or  six  years  been 
writing  short  stories  for  the  Harper's,  At 
lantic,  Lippincott,  Cosmopolitan,  Youth's 
Companion,  Independent,  and  other  peri 
odicals,  besides  contributing  humourous 
sketches  to  the  New  York  Tribune,  Boston 
Transcript,  Globe,  and  other  papers,  has 
enjoyed  the  privilege  of  being  brought  up 

217 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

in  the  atmosphere  of  authors  and  libraries. 
Her  first  book,  "  A  Hypocritical  Romance 
and  Other  Stories,"  appeared  in  1896, 
and  was  followed  by  "  Miss  Belladonna," 
a  social  satire,  which  was  published  in 
1897.  During  the  past  two  years  Miss 
Ticknor  has  been  engaged  in  doing  con 
siderable  editorial  work,  and  has,  besides 
her  other  literary  work,  completed  the 
task  of  compiling  twenty  volumes  of  fa 
mous  selections  in  conjunction  with  For 
rest  Morgan  and  Nathan  Haskell  Dole. 
This  work,  entitled  "  The  International 
Library  of  Famous  Literature,"  was  pub 
lished  in  1898. 

Like  all  good  Bostonians,  Miss  Ticknor 
belongs  to  several  clubs,  literary,  patriotic, 
and  dramatic,  but  she  willingly  deserts 
them  all  for  out-of-door  sports,  as  she  is 
devotedly  fond  of  athletics,  being,  above 
all  things,  an  enthusiastic  skater. 
218 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Miss  Ticknor  has  recently  edited  twenty 
volumes  of  "  Masterpieces  of  Famous  Lit 
erature  "  and  fifteen  volumes  of  "  The 
World's  Great  Orations."  She  lives  in 
the  best  part  of  Jamaica  Plain,  on  a  quiet, 
shady  street,  in  an  interesting  old  house, 
the  most  fascinating  room  of  which  is  the 
library,  with  its  walls  covered  with  au 
tographs  of  her  grandfather  Ticknor's 
authors,  —  Hawthorne,  Emerson,  Long 
fellow,  Lowell,  Holmes,  Tennyson,  George 
Eliot,  and  many  others  who  were  his  dear 
friends,  and  most  of  whom  he  introduced 
to  the  reading  public. 

Since  "  A  Social  Highwayman "  was 
dramatised,  the  name  of  Elizabeth  Phipps 
Train  has  been  widely  known.  She  began 
her  literary  work  in  the  late  eighties  with 
several  volumes  of  French  translations, 
and  since  that  time  has  published  "  Dr. 
Lamar,"  "  A  Professional  Beauty,"  "  A 

219 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Social  Highwayman,"  "  A  Marital  Lia 
bility,"  and  "  A  Queen  of  Hearts."  She 
was  born  in  Dorchester,  makes  her  winter 
home  on  Marlboro  Street,  Boston,  and 
has  a  charming  summer  house  in  Dux- 
bury.  Miss  Train  spends  much  time 
abroad,  however.  She  is  a  cousin  of  the 
famous  beauty,  Miss  Eleanor  Winslow,  of 
London,  who,  it  is  said,  was  the  real  hero 
ine  of  her  "  Autobiography  of « a  Profes 
sional  Beauty." 

Miss  Cornelia  Warren,  daughter  of  the 
late  S.  D.  Warren,  of  Mount  Vernon 
Street,  is  another  Boston  woman  who  has 
written  a  successful  novel,  "  Miss  Wil 
ton,"  published  ten  years  ago,  and  who 
intends  to  write  again  when  she  has  lei 
sure.  At  present,  her  time  is  given  to  the 
Denison  House  Settlement  work,  of  which 
she  is  treasurer. 

Mary  Tappan  Wright  is  another  famil- 
220 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

iar  name  to  magazine  readers.  Mrs. 
Wright  lives  in  Cambridge,  on  beautiful 
old  Quincy  Street,  the  wife  of  J.  H. 
Wright,  himself  an  author-editor  as  well 
as  professor  of  Greek  at  Harvard  Uni 
versity.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Presi 
dent  Tappan  of  Kenyon  College.  Her 
books  are  "  A  Truce  and  Other  Stories  " 
and  "  The  Alien,"  a  recent  successful 
novel,  treating  of  Southern  life  from  the 
Northern  point  of  view. 

Lillian  Gertrude  Shuman  (Mrs.  Carl 
Dreyfus)  was  born  September  third,  1876, 
in  Boston.  She  still  resides  in  her  father's 
fine,  old-fashioned  house  in  Roxbury, 
where  she  was  born,  and  where  the  largest 
part  of  her  life  has  been  spent.  She  at 
tended  the  Dillaway  Grammar  School  in 
Roxbury,  and,  after  graduating,  went 
immediately  to  Miss  Heloise  Hersey's 
school  for  girls  on  Chestnut  Street,  Bos- 

221 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ton.  Here  she  remained  for  five  consecu 
tive  years,  receiving  her  certificate  for 
advanced  study.  She  then  continued  spe 
cial  courses  with  Miss  Hersey  herself, 
studying  the  languages  and  other  branches 
of  learning  with  private  instructors  at 
home.  During  these  years  she  travelled 
quite  extensively  in  Europe,  making  three 
different  journeys,  one  of  longer  duration 
for  the  purpose  of  study. 

She  has  recently  been  abroad  upon  a 
brief  trip  of  pilgrimage  to  literary  shrines 
in  Italy,  from  which  we  shall  hear  in 
poetic  prose.  She  was  married  April 
sixth,  1899,  to  Mr.  Carl  Dreyfus,  Har 
vard  '95,  of  Boston.  She  is  a  member 
of  the  Boston  Authors'  Club,  the  Boston 
Browning  Society,  and  also  a  member  of 
the  examining  committee  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library.  Mrs.  Dreyfus  is  the  au 
thor  of  a  volume  of  dainty  poems,  entitled 
222 


LITERARY   BOSTON"    OF    TO-DAY 

"  From  Me  to  You,"  and  has  written  fre 
quently  for  Boston  periodicals.  Her  work 
is  marked  by  a  beautiful  sincerity  and 
clear-sightedness  of  purpose.  Young, 
filled  with  high  aspirations,  and  possessed 
of  leisure  for  study,  and,  above  all,  free 
from  the  necessity  of  writing  "  pot-boil 
ers,"  we  may  look  for  work  from  her  that 
is  exceptionally  worth  while  in  the  future. 
Then  there  is  Miss  Geraldine  Brooks, 
the  oldest  daughter  of  Elbridge  Streeter 
Brooks,  who  was  himself  for  many  years 
an  important  member  of  the  best  literary 
set  in  and  around  Boston.  Mr.  Brooks 
had  written  very  nearly  fifty  volumes  pre 
vious  to  his  death  in  January,  1902,  and 
his  daughter  not  only  inherited  his  talent, 
but  had  the  benefit  of  his  advice  and  lit 
erary  training.  Miss  Brooks  has  written 
two  books  on  "  Colonial  Dames,"  which 
have  been  well  received  and  give  promise 

223 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

of  better  work  to  come.  She  is  a  charming 
young  woman  personally,  a  graduate  of 
Radcliffe  College,  to  whom  the  doors  of 
literature  have  already  swung  open.  The 
Brooks  family  have  occupied  a  lovely 
home  in  Somerville  for  many  years,  and 
are  important  members  of  the  Boston  Au 
thors'  Club,  as  well  as  having  a  wide  ac 
quaintance  among  literary  and  musical 
people  throughout  the  East. 

Miss  Abbie  Farwell  Brown,  whose  juve 
nile  stories  are  of  uncommon  quality,  is 
another  promising  author  of  whom  much 
may  be  expected  in  the  future;  and  Miss 
Elizabeth  McCracken,  a  young  newspaper 
woman  of  Boston,  has  a  name  that  is 
beginning  to  appear  frequently  on  the 
title-pages  of  the  leading  magazines.  Miss 
Edith  Robinson  is  another  Boston  writer 
who  has  made  herself  known  by  several 
excellent  juveniles  and  two  or  three  novels 
224 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

of  much  ability.  Miss  Robinson  is  a 
Massachusetts  woman  residing  in  Boston 
and  devoting  herself  to  literature.  Among 
her  successful  books  are  "  Forced  Ac 
quaintances,"  "  Penhallow  Tales,"  "  A 
Little  Puritan  Rebel,"  "A  Loyal  Little 
Maid,"  "The  Captain  of  the  School," 
and  "A  Puritan  Knight-Errant." 


225 


CHAPTEK   XL 

MAKY  A.  LIVERMORE,  ADELINE  D.  T.  WHIT 
NEY,  EDNAH  DOW  CHENEY,  ABBY  MOB- 
TON  DIAZ,  AND  KATE  TANNATT  WOODS 


^~\N"E  of  the  women  whom  Boston 
f  i  delights  to  honour,  one  of  Boston's 
very  own,  born  at  the  old  North 
End,  when  the  North  End  was  the  rep 
resentative  portion  of  the  city,  educated 
in  its  schools,  as  far  as  they  could  give 
her  the  education  she  desired,  and  coming 
back  to  it  after  a  few  years  of  absence, 
to  win  new  honours  and  to  grow  old  among 
the  friends  of  her  early  life,  is  Mary  A. 
Livennore,  reformer,  philanthropist,  ora 
tor,  and  writer.  She  has  reached  the 
226 


vU4-<y  Jr  • 


MARY    A.    LIVERMORE 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

autumn  of  life,  the  days,  not  of  inactiv 
ity,  for  Mrs.  Livermore  will  be  active  as 
long  as  she  has  life,  but  of  peace,  and  with 
the  fruits  of  her  good  works  garnered  in 
her  heart,  she  awaits  in  the  restful  sun 
shine  of  ripe  retrospection  the  cheerful 
harvest  home. 

Mary  Ashton  Rice  was  born  in  Boston 
on  the  nineteenth  of  December,  1821,  and 
was  a  pupil  at  the  old  Hancock  School 
at  the  North  End.  She  was  a  bright, 
unusually  clever  girl  at  her  books,  and 
kept  pace  with  her  brothers  and  their 
friends  in  all  school  work,  but  when  it 
came  to  the  higher  education,  the  larger 
opportunity,  she  was  not  permitted  to  go 
on  with  them.  The  college  was  open  to 
them,  but  its  doors  were  shut  to  her.  She 
took  the  best  that  offered,  however,  and 
went  to  a  "  Female  Seminary  "  at  Charles- 
town,  which  was  at  the  time  one  of  the 

227 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

finest  schools  for  girls  in  this  part  of  the 
country.  She  was  graduated  from  there, 
and,  after  her  graduation,  she  took  a  posi 
tion  as  a  teacher  in  this  same  school.  At 
that  time  teaching  seemed  the  only  voca 
tion  open  to  an  ambitious  girl  who  had 
her  own  way  to  make,  and  she  naturally 
followed  it. 

But  she  soon  left  Massachusetts,  tempted 
by  an  oifer  as  teacher  in  a  family  school 
in  Virginia,  where  she  remained  for  some 
time.  It  was  while  there  that  her  eyes 
became  fully  opened  to  the  horrors  of 
slavery,  although  in  the  family  in  which 
she  was  employed  the  negroes  were  kindly 
treated,  and  there  were  none  of  the  evils 
which  sometimes  accompanied  the  system. 
She  tried  to  teach  the  blacks  during  her 
leisure  hours,  but  was  not  permitted,  and 
left  Virginia  to  open  a  school  of  her  own 
at  Duxbury,  in  Massachusetts,  which  was 
228 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

most  successful,  but  which  she  finally 
gave  up  to  unite  her  fortunes  with  those 
of  a  promising  young  Universalist  clergy 
man,  the  Rev.  Daniel  P.  Livermore. 
With  him  she  went  to  Fall  River,  and 
found  new  duties,  no  less  pleasant  than 
teaching.  She  must  have  been  a  fine 
teacher,  for  the  reputation  which  she  won 
then  has  always  stayed  by  her.  The  same 
magnetic  power,  the  same  subtle  influence 
that  every  one  recognises  who  comes  in 
contact  with  her  now,  was  potent  then, 
and  it  almost  seemed  as  though  she  was 
giving  up  a  vocation  to  which  she  was  as 
plainly  "  called  "  as  was  ever  one  to  any 
sacred  work. 

But  it  soon  became  quite  as  plainly 
apparent  that  there  was  to  be  in  this  mar 
riage  no  sacrifice  of  personality,  no  merg 
ing  of  the  strong  individual  soul  into 
another's  life,  but  that  sympathy  and  pure 

229 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

affection  were  to  double  and  not  hamper 
its  energies.  Together  they  worked,  this 
devoted  pair,  and  the  wife  was  as  busy 
as  the  husband,  performing  her  many 
duties  with  wonderful  grace  and  tact. 

In  1857  the  Livermores  removed  to  Chi 
cago,  and  Mrs.  Livermore  became  her 
husband's  assistant  in  the  editorship  of 
a  denominational  paper,  undertaking  al 
most  the  entire  charge,  and  leaving  him 
a  larger  liberty  for  pulpit  work. 

Then  followed  the  war,  and  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  in  which 
Mrs.  Livermore  was  an  active  worker,  as 
well  as  one  of  the  founders.  It  did  a 
magnificent  work,  that  great  auxiliary  as 
sociation  in  which  so  many  noble  women 
found  opportunity  for  splendid  service, 
and  whose  history  supplements  the  lurid 
war  record  of  blood  and  carnage.  Here 
were  gentle  hands  binding  up  wounds, 
230 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

pouring  oil  and  wine,  writing  letters  for 
poor,  shattered  fingers  to  send  to  friends 
at  home,  bathing  fevered  foreheads  raised 
in  prayer  to  commend  passing  souls  to 
heaven.  In  hospitals,  in  camp,  on  the 
battlefield  itself,  they  went,  these  minis 
tering  angels.  These  years  of  labour,  of 
travel,  of  appeal,  of  entreaty,  of  personal 
service,  were  the  condensed  values  of  a 
lifetime,  of  a  thousand  ordinary  lifetimes. 
Chicago  was  the  central  point  of  dis 
bursement  for  the  West,  and  early  in  the 
war  Mrs.  Livermore  was  sent  to  the  front 
with  stores  for  the  hospitals.  It  was  when 
she  was  coming  up  from  the  camp  in  front 
of  Vicksburg  that  she  made  her  first  public 
address,  little  dreaming  to  what  it  would 
lead.  The  boys  were  in  fearful  straits, 
and  Mrs.  Livermore  started  north  to  get 
fresh  supplies.  The  work  had  begun  to 
flag,  people  had  begun  to  tire  of  giving, 

231 


LITERAEY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

the  war  was  getting  to  be  an  old  story, 
and  something  must  be  done. 

On  the  way  up  the  Mississippi  she  was 
telling  the  story  of  the  needs  of  the  men 
at  the  front  to  a  gentleman,  who  proved  to 
be  a  leading  citizen  of  Dubuque,  Iowa. 
Dubuque  was  one  of  the  places  at  which 
she  was  to  stop  to  beg  for  help,  and  she 
asked  the  advice  of  her  fellow  traveller, 
about  how  best  to  reach  the  people. 

"  There  is  but  one  thing  to  be  done," 
he  said ;  "  you  must  meet  some  of  them 
personally  and  tell  them  the  story  of  the 
great  needs." 

Mrs.  Livermore  agreed,  supposing  that 
she  was  to  meet  a  few  of  the  most  influ 
ential  women  of  the  city  in  some  parlour, 
and,  in  answer  to  questions,  tell  them  what 
she  wanted  them  to  do,  leaving  the  work 
of  getting  up  a  mass-meeting  and  collect 
ing  stores  and  money  to  them. 
232 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

The  boat  arrived  at  Dubuque  early  in 
the  morning,  and  her  friend  escorted  her 
to  the  hotel,  so  that  she  might  get  some 
rest,  while  he  set  about  getting  the  people 
together.  When  she  awoke,  he  was  wait 
ing  to  see  her. 

"  I've  got  the  largest  church  in  town, 
and  the  fliers  are  at  every  house,  announc 
ing  that  you  will  speak  this  evening  about 
the  needs  of  the  army  and  the  work  of  the 
Commission." 

Mrs.  Livermore  was  aghast. 

"  I  can't  do  it,"  she  said ;  "  I  never 
did  such  a  thing  in  my  life  as  to  speak  in 
public." 

"  But  you  must  now,"  said  the  man, 
"  everybody  is  expecting  it,  and  it  is  the 
only  thing  to  be  done." 

"  But  I  have  prepared  no  speech ;  I 
don't  know  what  to  say." 

"  Tell  the  people  just  what  you  told  me, 

233 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and  tell  it  as  though  you  were  telling  it 
to  one.  You  will  find  you  will  have  a 
generous  response." 

"  But  I  have  no  change  of  dress ;  I 
have  only  this  one,  soiled  with  the  mud 
and  stained  with  the  water  of  the  camp." 

"  Never  mind  the  dress,  that  is  a  sec 
ondary  matter;  it  is  what  you  will  say, 
not  what  you  will  wear,  that  will  tell." 

In  the  end  she  consented,  and  a  few 
hours  later,  in  a  brilliantly  lighted,  ele 
gant  church,  wearing  her  dress  stained 
with  the  mud  of  the  camps,  she  faced  her 
first  audience,  which  completely  filled  the 
spacious  auditorium,  all  eager  to  hear  the 
message  "  from  the  front." 

At  first  her  knees  trembled,  so  that  they 
could  scarcely  bear  her  weight,  a  mist 
swam  before  her  eyes,  and  her  voice  re 
fused  to  utter  a  word.  It  seemed  an  age ; 
it  was  but  a  moment  that  she  stood  thus ; 
234 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

then  suddenly  the  thought  of  the  brave 
fellows  in  camp  and  hospital  came  to  her, 
and  she  realised  that  only  her  words  could 
help  them  in  their  distress.  Her  tongue 
was  loosened,  and  simply,  but  so  earnestly, 
even  passionately,  she  told  her  story  and 
brought  her  message,  that  every  heart  was 
opened,  and  there  was  a  generous  and 
speedy  response. 

That  night's  work  in  Dubuque  showed 
to  the  leaders  of  the  Sanitary  Commission 
where  her  power  lay,  and  how  best  she 
could  help.  So  she  was  sent  to  city  after 
city,  and  the  money  and  the  stores  came 
pouring  in.  And  still  she  did  not  abandon 
her  work  at  the  front;  she  visited  camp 
and  hospital,  and  hardly  a  soldier  in  the 
Union  army  did  not  know  her  name  and 
reverence  it. 

Chicago  was  a  parole  camp,  and  many 
of  the  boys  detained  there  were  welcomed 

235 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

at  her  own  home,  and  the  sick  ones  espe 
cially  looked  after. 

The  war  being  ended,  the  cause  of 
woman  suffrage  began  to  claim  Mrs.  Liv- 
ermore's  attention  and  engross  her  untir 
ing  activity,  and  she  started  the  Agitator 
in  Chicago,  but  came  to  Boston  in  1870 
to  edit  the  new  suffrage  organ,  the 
Woman's  Journal.  She  continued  in  the 
editorial  charge  for  about  three  years, 
when  her  increasing  popularity  as  a 
speaker,  and  the  consequent  demand  for 
her  in  lyceums  and  for  lectures  in  the 
leading  cities  all  over  the  country,  made 
it  necessary  for  her  to  drop  her  editorial 
duties.  For  years  her  name  was  one  of 
the  most  potent  in  "  lyceum  "  announce 
ments  all  over  the  land.  She  was  quite 
in  her  element  in  this  work,  as  she  en 
joyed  the  travel,  triumphed  in  the  fatigue 
to  which  many  others,  men  as  well  as 
236 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

women,  would  have  succumbed,  and  glo 
ried  in  the  opportunity  of  disseminating 
the  truths  in  which  she  believed  as  saving 
doctrines  to  humanity. 

The  temperance  work  was  the  next  field 
for  her  labours,  and  for  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century  Mrs.  Livermore  has  laboured, 
written,  spoken,  and  organised  for  the 
great  local  moral  reform  of  the  day,  which 
she  espoused  with  deep  interest,  and  with 
an  intensity  unflavoured  by  bitterness, 
malice,  or  evil-speaking  of  antagonists. 
The  personal  side  never  is  permitted  to 
enter  this  work;  she  keeps  always  to  the 
side  of  broad  morality  and  the  question 
of  absolute  right  or  wrong.  Indifference, 
selfishness,  criminality,  stand  on  one  side 
to  be  attacked.  These  eliminated,  and 
how  small,  comparatively,  is  the  sincere 
opposition  to  that  intense  desire  to  remove 
the  drink  temptation  from  the  pathway 

237 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

of  the  weak,  which  actuates  everybody 
who  goes  down  into  the  lives  of  the  sub 
merged.  What  law  can  effect  is  one  thing, 
what  public  opinion  ought  to  is  another; 
and  there  are  not  a  few  people,  who,  if 
they  should  probe  their  consciences,  would 
find  themselves  moved  to  personal  denial, 
lest  they  cause  their  brother  to  offend, 
and  to  the  promotion  of  a  general  tem 
perance  sentiment  as  far  as  in  them  lies. 
Many  a  person,  many  thousand  of  persons, 
Mrs.  Livermore  has  moved  to  this  sort  of 
thinking,  who  would  have  been  driven  into 
opposition  by  the  intemperate  howlers  for 
temperance. 

Besides  her  work  in  suffrage  and  tem 
perance,  her  busy  brain  has  devoted  itself 
to  the  work  of  Chautauqua,  to  the  advance 
ment  of  the  Woman's  Educational  and 
Industrial  Union,  the  Soldier's  Aid,  the 
Indian  Association,  the  Psychical  Society, 
238 


LITERAKY   BOSTON"    OF    TO-DAY 

in  all  which  and  in  many  more  causes 
and  organisations  Mrs.  Livermore  serves 
in  pen  and  in  person.  She  never  refuses 
to  work  for  a  cause  which  really  needs 
her  efforts,  and  in  the  old  lyceum  days 
she  would  bother  poor  James  Redpath, 
then  her  manager,  by  undertaking  an  en 
gagement  for  little  or  nothing,  at  the  same 
time  sacrificing  some  lucrative  appoint 
ment. 

The  Livermore  home  is  in  Melrose,  one 
of  the  pleasantest  and  most  attractive  of 
Boston's  many  attractive  suburbs. '  It  is 
an  old-fashioned,  square,  roomy  house, 
with  wide  piazzas  and  pretty,  well-kept 
grounds  that  slope  downward  to  the  shores 
of  the  lovely  Crystal  Lake,  and  all  about 
are  the  prosperous  looking,  comfortable 
homes  of  the  conservative,  wealthy  New 
Englanders.  Within,  in  the  long  parlour 
on  the  left  of  the  door,  a  room  which  runs 

239 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

the  whole  length  of  the  house,  are  many 
portraits,  some  busts,  and  a  few  pictures, 
memorials  of  many  great  men,  women, 
and  great  causes,  but  the  dominating  fea 
ture,  the  thing  above  all  that  attracts  and 
holds  the  visitor,  is  the  beautiful  bust  of 
Mrs.  Livermore  herself  by  Anne  Whitney. 

Mrs.  Livermore's  own  special  work 
place  is  up-stairs.  Here  is  a  study,  com 
municating  with  her  sleeping-room,  lined 
on  every  side,  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling, 
with  books,  and  furnished  with  a  largs 
revolving  bookcase,  which  stands  near  a 
big  study  table,  upon  which  an  enormous 
correspondence  is  punctually  answered  - 
a  child's  request  for  an  autograph  as  punc 
tiliously  as  the  official  communication  of 
a  foreign  society. 

In  this  room,  with  her  secretary,  Mrs. 
Livermore  passes  many  hours  each  day, 

240 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

for  her  pen  is  still  busy,  and  she  does  not 
know  what  it  is  to  be  idle. 

Mrs.  Livermore  has  a  most  magnetic 
personality,  and  whether  one  listens  to  her 
as  she  speaks  from  the  platform,  or  talks 
with  her  face  to  face,  this  quality  is  felt, 
compelling  and  convincing.  She  is  a 
woman  of  large  frame,  which  her  years 
have  not  bent,  and  of  large,  expressive 
features.  She  is  always  plainly  dressed, 
simple  in  speech,  and  a  practical,  common 
sensible  manner,  reminding  one  of  the  old- 
time  Puritan  women  in  her  directness. 
But  when  she  speaks !  Then  it  is  that 
her  charm  and  her  power  alike  are  felt. 
She  has  a  most  wonderful  voice,  full,  deep, 
and  flexible,  capable  of  expressing  feeling 
and  even  passion,  and  its  first  tones  chal 
lenge  the  respect  and  attention  which 
always  follow  her.  She  has  studied  and 
developed  her  great  oratorical  gift,  yet  it 

241 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

does  not  disguise,  but  rather  illuminates, 
her  sincerity  and  conviction,  which  are  the 
impressive  influences  that  radiate  to  a 
single  listener,  or  to  crowded  audiences, 
with  such  extraordinary  effect. 

There  is  a  saying  familiar  to  all  that 
has  something  to  do  with  prophets  and 
their  own  country,  and  the  honour  that 
is  denied  them  there.  This  does  not  hold 
true  in  this  case.  The  whole  town  of  Mel- 
rose  delights  to  honour  its  distinguished 
citizen,  and  since  the  death  of  her  hus 
band,  about  three  years  ago,  it  holds  her 
in  special  affection  and  care. 

No  two  stories  of  achievement  could  be 
more  different  than  those  of  Mrs.  Adeline 
D.  T.  Whitney  and  Mrs.  Livermore.  Mrs. 
Livermore's  work,  done  in  the  full  light  of 
the  world,  every  new  movement  in  some 
way  a  public  measure  for  the  uplifting  and 
broadening  of  humanity,  Mrs.  Whitney's 
242 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

in  the  shelter  of  the  home,  yet  having  for 
its  ultimate  end  the  same  general  aim  as 
that  of  her  fellow  worker. 

Although  not  agreeing  as  to  what  was 
the  better  way  of  achieving  the  end,  both 
were  equally  zealous  and  sincere  in  wish 
ing  to  do  the  most  for  the  bettering  of  the 
world,  so  that  they  might  not  feel  that 
they  had  lived  and  worked  in  vain. 

Mrs.  Whitney  occupies  the  peculiar 
position  of  belonging  to  literary  Boston, 
while  not  being  of  it.  Her  work  has  made 
her  recognised  as  one  of  the  strong  fea 
tures  of  the  literary  life  of  the  commnnity 
since  her  first  book  was  published  in  about 
1860,  although  she  has  kept  her  personal 
side  very  much  away  from  the  world,  and 
sent  her  work,  which  has  been  always  on 
the  side  of  the  purity  and  integrity  of  life, 
out  from  the  shelter  of  her  suburban  home. 

And,  since  personal  effacement  has  been 

243 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

her  wish,  the  newspapers  have  respected 
it,  and  interviewers  have  not  been  per 
mitted  to  trouble  her.  When  her  opinion 
has  been  sought,  upon  any  question  involv 
ing  the  safety  of  the  home,  the  bettering 
of  the  community,  and  the  uplifting  of 
civic  affairs,  she  has  never  refused  to  give 
it  through  the  medium  of  her  pen ;  but 
anything  which  seemed  to  her  impertinent, 
or  which  she  thought  intruded  upon  the 
personal,  she  has  never  hesitated  to  treat 
with  the  contempt  which  she  felt  that  it 
deserved.  The  world  knows  as  much  as 
she  believes  it  has  a  right  to  know  con 
cerning  her,  and  no  more.  Her  work  has 
been  so  well  received,  so  wanted,  evidently, 
that  her  publishers  have  never  been  com 
pelled  to  resort  to  the  employment  of  per 
sonalities  to  advertise  them.  Had  that 
been  the  case,  however,  she  would  have 
seen  her  books  fail,  rather  than  employ 
244 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

such  methods,  because  she  believes  so  thor 
oughly  in  the  right  of  every  individual 
to  hold  his  life  sacred  and  apart  from 
the  public.  She  has  never  belonged  to 
clubs,  or  in  any  way  made  for  herself 
divergent  interests  outside  of  the  home. 

Adeline  Train  was  born  in  Boston  on 
the  fifteenth  of  September,  1824,  and  was 
the  daughter  of  one  of  Boston's  best 
known  and  most  successful  business  men. 
She  was  educated  in  her  native  city,  fin 
ishing  at  the  school  of  George  B.  Emerson, 
where  all  the  leading  young  women  of  the 
Boston  of  her  time  were  pupils,  which  she 
attended  from  1837  to  1841. 

On  leaving  school,  she  entered  society, 
after  the  custom  of  all  young  women  of 
wealth  and  position,  and,  judging  from 
her  books,  and  the  hearty  way  she  writes 
about  the  social  festivities  of  the  young, 
she  must  have  enjoyed  life  immensely, 

245 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and,  at  the  same  time,  taken  its  pleasures 
sensibly. 

In  1843  she  was  married  to  Mr.  Seth 
D.  Whitney,  and  settled  in  Milton,  which 
was  her  husband's  home,  and  where  she 
still  lives.  In  her  early  life  she  wrote 
little  for  publication,  although  she  was  an 
"  occasional  contributor  "  to  the  magazines 
of  the  time,  but  probably  had  no  idea  of 
the  place  which  she  was  to  hold  in  the 
large  world  of  letters  in  her  later  life. 

Her  first  book  was  published  in  1859, 
and,  unless  memory  is  treacherous,  it  was 
"  The  Boys  of  Chequasset,"  a  juvenile 
story  which  was  well  received,  but  gave 
no  hint  of  the  popularity  which  was  to 
follow  the  appearance  of  her  next  book. 
When  "Faith  Gartney's  Girlhood"  was 
published,  it  came  upon  the  world  like  a 
revelation.  It  was  so  different  from  any 
thing  which  had  preceded  it;  it  was  so 
246 


LITEEAKY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

simple,  so  direct,  so  human,  and  so  strong 
that  it  carried  captive  every  one  who 
read  it. 

It  was  one  of  the  first  books  —  unless 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  is  excepted  —  that 
had  a  phenomenal  sale,  and  passed  quickly 
from  edition  to  edition.  The  critics  didn't 
quite  know  what  to  do  with  it ;  there  were 
no  standards  by  which  to  measure  it,  it 
was  entirely  unlike  anything  else,  so  they 
gave  up  trying  to  criticise,  and  heaped 
unstinted  praise  upon  it. 

As  for  the  young  girls  who  read  it,  they 
were  simply  delighted  by  it,  and  called  for 
more  like  it.  And  so  that  remarkable 
series  of  books  for  girls,  "  Leslie  Gold- 
thwaite,"  "  Keal  Folks,"  "  We  Girls  and 
the  Other  Girls,"  were  written.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  these  books  helped  many  a 
girl  to  elevate  her  standard  of  living,  and 
taught  her  many  an  unconscious  lesson 

247 


LITERARY   BOSTON   OF   TO-DAY 

in  behaviour,  and  that  Mrs.  Whitney 
stood  to  them  for  the  ideal  of  all  that  was 
fine  and  sincere  in  living.  There  has 
never  been  one  who  has  been  more  to  girls, 
in  a  helpful  way,  than  has  this  writer,  who 
surely  must  have  a  genuine  love  for  girls 
in  her  heart,  or  she  could  not  so  thoroughly 
enter  into  their  lives  with  the  little  troub 
les  and  perplexities,  their  plans  and  their 
pleasures,  as  she  does. 

But  it  is  not  the  girls  alone  for  whom 
she  has  written.  She  is  the  author  of  sev 
eral  successful  novels :  " The  Gayworthys," 
which  is  a  most  delightful  story  of  country 
life,  of  many  lives  in  fact,  bound  in  com 
mon  interests ;  "  Hitherto,"  which  is  as 
much  a  character  study  as  a  story,  and 
"  Odd  and  Even  "  being  the  most  prom 
inent  and  interest-compelling  among  them. 
"  Sights  and  Insights  "  and  "  Patience 
Strong's  Outings  "  are  a  little  difficult  to 
248 


LITEEARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

classify;  they  have  a  touch  of  story,  a 
good  deal  of  philosophy,  and  much  human 
ity  in  them,  and  they  are  helpful  and 
most  delightful  reading.  There  are  tables 
holding  the  books  which  are  the  most 
dearly  loved  and  the  most  read  by  the 
owners,  where  "  Patience  Strong  "  holds 
a  permanent  place,  along  with  the  Bible 
and  prayer-book,  Marcus  Aurelius,  Emer 
son,  and  Whittier.  And  so,  there  are  those 
who  enjoy  an  intimate  friendship  with 
Mrs.  Whitney,  even  though  they  have 
never  looked  in  her  face,  nor  clasped  her 
hand  in  friendly  welcome.  And  Boston 
is  as  proud  of  her  and  of  her  achievement 
as  though  she  was  active  in  its  social  lit 
erary  life. 

Art,  literature,  reform,  and  philan 
thropy  have  alike  engaged  the  attention 
of  Mrs.  Ednah  Dow  Cheney  (born  Little- 
hale),  of  Boston.  In  her  quiet,  secluded 

249 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

home  in  Jamaica  Plain,  Mrs.  Cheney 
plans  for  her  beloved  hospital,  works  for 
the  Art  and  Literature  Committee  of  the 
New  England  Woman's  Club,  keeps 
abreast  of  all  the  educational  movements, 
and  writes  monographs  on  art  subjects. 
Hers  is  a  full  life,  and  it  numbers  in  its 
list  of  things  accomplished  some  most 
helpful  and  far-reaching  works  of  benefi 
cence. 

Miss  Littlehale  was  born  in  Boston  on 
the  twenty-seventh  of  June,  1824,  and 
was  educated  in  the  schools  of  her  native 
city.  Quite  early  in  life  she  was  married 
to  Mr.  Seth  Wells  Cheney,  an  artist.  She 
became,  in  her  early  life,  intimately  as 
sociated  with  the  men  and  women  who 
had  made  the  experiment  at  Brook  Farm, 
and  was  active  in  the  transcendental  move 
ment  which  had  its  centre  in  Boston,  and 
out  of  which  grew  the  Radical  Club,  of 
250 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

which  she  was  a  prominent  member.  She 
was  also  prominently  identified  with  the 
work  for  the  Freedmen,  coming  naturally 
to  it  from  her  antislavery  antecedents, 
and  her  inherent  sympathy  for  any  op 
pressed  class.  This  led  her  naturally  to 
the  woman  suffrage  movement,  with  which 
she  has  been  a  worker  for  years,  as  well 
as  an  officer  in  the  State  organisation. 

When  the  New  England  Woman's  Club 
was  formed,  she  became  one  of  its  mem 
bers,  and  has  been  its  first  vice-president 
many  years,  her  term  of  service  being  of 
nearly  the  same  length  as  has  Mrs.  Julia 
Ward  Howe's  in  the  presidential  chair. 

She  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  New 
England  Hospital  for  Women  and  Chil 
dren,  the  first  hospital  of  its  kind  in  Bos 
ton,  and  the  second  in  the  country,  the 
first  being  founded  in  New  York  by  the 
sisters  Blackwell,  who  had  as  an  associate 

251 


LITERAEY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

a  young  Prussian  doctor,  Marie  Zakrzew- 
ska.  This  doctor  was  the  prime  mover  for 
the  hospital,  and  she  found  a  ready  and 
sympathetic  ally  in  Mrs.  Cheney.  For 
years  Mrs.  Cheney  has  been  president  of 
the  Board  of  the  Hospital  Managers,  and 
never  for  an  instant  has  her  interest  re 
laxed.  She  has  been  also  deeply  interested 
in  the  higher  education  of  women  and 
their  professional  advancement,  and  the 
special  room  in  the  Institute  of  Tech 
nology  is  a  memorial  to  her  only  daughter, 
Margaret,  who  was  taken  from  her  in  the 
beauty  of  budding  womanhood. 

The  Summer  School  of  Philosophy  en 
gaged  her  interest  and  her  activities,  and 
she  was  one  of  the  regular  speakers  and 
instructors  during  its  sessions.  She  was 
a  friend  of  the  Alcotts  and  the  Emersons, 
of  Elizabeth  Peabody  and  her  sisters,  Mrs. 
Horace  Mann  and  Mrs.  Hawthorne,  of  all 
252 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

that  remarkable  coterie,  in  fact,  which 
made  Boston  so  famous  in  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

Her  writings  have  been  chiefly  on  art, 
but  she  has  written  a  book  of  children's 
stories  and  a  "  Life  of  Margaret  Fuller  " ; 
but  her  most  famous  work,  the  one  by 
which  she  will  be  the  longest  remembered, 
is  her  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Louisa  Al- 
cott." 

"  A  daughter  of  the  Puritans,"  one 
would  involuntarily  exclaim  upon  seeing 
Mrs.  Abby  Morton  Diaz,  with  her  dark 
hair  smoothly  banded  over  her  ears  in  the 
old-fashioned  way,  her  plain  dress,  prim 
almost  to  preciseness,  and  her  quaint, 
straightforward  manner.  And  that  is 
precisely  what  she  is,  although  there  is 
nothing  Puritanical  about  her,  except  her 
appearance  and  her  ancestry.  And  even 
her  ancestry  is  Pilgrim  instead  of  Puri- 

253 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO -DAY 

tan,  for  her  forebears  were  among  those 
who  challenged  fate,  and  sought  a  home 
in  the  unknown  new  world  in  the  May 
flower.  "  One  of  the  Mortons  of  Plym 
outh,"  that  is  what  she  was;  Abby  Mor 
ton,  after  she  had  grown  up  and  had 
children  of  her  own,  wrote  the  most  de 
lightfully  refreshing  children's  books,  that 
even  the  older  people  read  with  as  much 
pleasure  as  the  children  themselves. 

In  her  early  life  she  was  an  active 
worker  in  the  abolition  movement,  and 
her  girlhood  was  passed  among  the  noble 
men  and  women  who  were  prominent 
therein.  And,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  anti- 
slavery  workers,  she  came  naturally  into 
the  woman  suffrage  movement,  and  has 
been  identified  with  it  for  many  years. 

It  was  not  until  after  her  short  married 
life  that  she  began  to  write,  and  her  first 
book  was  "  The  William  Henry  Letters." 
254 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

These  were  the  letters  of  a  boy  at  school, 
written  to  his  people  at  home,  and  they 
were  simply  delicious  in  their  naturalness. 
Nothing  like  them  had  ever  been  written ; 
the  book  was  unique,  and  for  many  years 
Mrs.  Diaz  was  kept  busy  writing  chil 
dren's  stories.  There  is  a  strain  of  whim 
sicality  running  through  everything  which 
she  writes  that  makes  fascinating  reading. 
It  may  not,  possibly,  as  some  one  has  sug 
gested,  be  literature,  but  it  is  essentially 
human.  Mrs.  Diaz  has  a  quaint  philos 
ophy  of  her  own  that  shows  in  her  books 
written  for  older  people,  which  may,  for 
want  of  a  better  description,  be  called  the 
philosophy  of  common  sense.  The  basis 
of  it  all  is  the  truths  which  are  gained  by 
living. 

Since  its  formation,  in  the  simplest 
way,  of  the  Woman's  Educational  and 
Industrial  Union  by  Doctor  Harriet  Clis- 

255 


LITEEAEY   BOSTON   OF   TO-DAY 

bee,  Mrs.  Diaz  has  been  an  active  worker 
in  it,  and  its  first  growth  and  development, 
pointing  to  the  power  which  it  was  to 
become,  was  due  to  her  thought  and  her 
work.  For  many  years  she  was  the  pres 
ident  of  it,  and  only  retired  when  it  be 
came  so  large,  with  work  in  so  many 
directions,  that  she  could  not  give  the  time 
to  it;  then  she  yielded  the  leadership  to 
the  executive  hands  of  Mrs.  Mary  Morton 
Kehew.  Mrs.  Diaz  has  a  pleasant  home 
in  Belmont,  only  a  little  way  from  Mr. 
Trowbridge's  Arlington  residence. 

Another  woman  who  belongs  to  this 
older  group  of  workers  is  Mrs.  Kate  Tan- 
natt  Woods,  whose  home  is  in  Salem,  but 
whose  affiliations  are  with  Boston.  She 
was  born  in  Peekskill,  New  York,  where 
her  father  was  the  editor  of  a  paper,  and 
she  was  brought  up  in  the  atmosphere  of 
literary  work.  She  has  written  a  large 
256 


LITERARY   BOSTON"    OF    TO-DAY 

number  of  books,  most  of  them  juveniles, 
and  is  still  busy  with  her  pen.  She  was 
an  early  member  of  the  New  England 
Woman's  Club  and  of  the  Woman's  Press 
Association.  In  her  busy  life,  Mrs.  Woods 
has  found  time  to  become  prominent  in 
several  movements,  and  her  pen  and  her 
voice  are  always  at  the  service  of  any 
worthy  cause. 


257 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  CAMBRIDGE  SET  I  CHARLES  ELIOT 
NORTON,  PRESIDENT  ELIOT,  AND  OTHER 
AUTHORS  CONNECTED  WITH  HARVARD 
UNIVERSITY,  WELLESLEY  COLLEGE,  THE 
MASSACHUSETTS  INSTITUTE  OF  TECH 
NOLOGY,  ETC. 

"  (^  F'^lIE    Cambridge    set "    lias    been 

i        looked  on  with  pride  by  literary 

Boston    for    many   years,    since 

the    days    when    Professor    Longfellow, 

James  Russell  Lowell,  and  Doctor  Holmes 

were  a  part  of  it.     Mr.  Horace  E.  Scud- 

der  and  Professor  John  Fiske,  so  recently 

lost  to   literature,   were   for   many  years 

connected  with  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  and 

Harvard  University  has  always  furnished 

258 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

some  of  our  best  writers  and  thinkers. 
Perhaps  the  man  who  best  serves  to-day 
to  keep  alive  the  atmosphere  of  soul  arid 
beauty  that  enveloped  Longfellow  and 
Lowell  and  these  others  is  Charles  Eliot 
Norton. 

He  was  born  November  sixteenth,  1827. 
He  was  graduated  from  Harvard  at  the 
age  of  nineteen.  He  served  as  super 
cargo  on  a  voyage  to  India  in  1849.  Dur 
ing  the  Civil  War  he  edited  the  papers 
issued  by  the  Loyal  Publication  Society, 
and  then,  from  1864  to  1868,  he  was  joint 
editor  with  James  Russell  Lowell  of  the 
North  American  Review.  In  1875  he 
became  the  professor  of  the  history  of 
art  in  Harvard  College,  and  held  the  posi 
tion  until  a  few  weeks  ago,  when  he  re 
signed  it. 

He  is  the  gentlest  kind  of  a  gentleman ; 
he  reminds  one  of  the  aged  Nestor,  out  of 

259 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

whose  mouth,  tells  us  the  old  Latin  prose- 
book,  "  came  speech  sweeter  than  honey." 
During  his  connection  with  the  North 
American  Review,  Mr.  Norton's  articles 
were  naturally  largely  political,  but  since 
1869  they  have  been  pretty  limited  to 
belles-lettres.  "The  <  New  Life '  of 
Dante  "  has  appeared  in  several  editions. 
His  translation  of  the  whole  "  Divine 
Comedy"  came  out  in  1891  and  1892. 
Besides  this  he  has  written  much  on 
Dante;  in  fact,  this  is  in  a  way  the  leit 
motif  of  his  literary  work.  Further  Dante 
literature  was,  in  1865,  "  The  Original 
Portraits  of  Dante,"  and  "  Dante  and  the 
Latest  English  Translator  "  in  1866.  Re 
cently,  in  1896,  Mr.  Norton  contributed 
an  article  on  Dante  for  the  Child  Memo 
rial  volume,  and  he  has  just  published 
one  in  the  Warner  Library.  As  Mr.  Low 
ell's  literary  executor,  he  published  "  The 
260 


LITERARY    BOSTON"    OF    TO-DAY 

Letters  of  James  Russell  Lowell,"  edited 
by  himself. 

In  1860  he  published  "  Notes  of  Travel 
and  Study  in  Italy."  Of  this  Ruskin 
says :  "  My  impression  is  that,  by  care 
fully  reading  it,  together  with  the  essay 
by  the  same  writer  on  the  '  Vita  Nuova ' 
of  Dante,  a  more  just  estimate  may  be 
formed  of  the  religious  art  of  Italy  than 
by  the  study  of  any  other  books  yet  exist 
ing."  In  connection  with  Mr.  Ruskin, 
another  quotation  from  the  "  Life  of  Long 
fellow  "  is  apposite.  Mr.  Ruskin  wrote 
to  Longfellow :  "I  had  many  things  to 
say  about  the  sense  I  have  of  the  good 
you  might  do  this  old  world  by  staying 
with  us  a  little,  and  giving  the  peaceful 
glow  of  your  fancy  to  our  cold,  troubled, 
unpeaceful  spirit.  Strange  that  both  you 
and  Norton  come  as  such  calm  influences 
to  me  and  others."  The  compliment  to  the 

261 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

one  is  the  speaking  well  of  the  other.  The 
influence  of  a  conservative  personality  is 
the  more  apparent  as  change  and  storm 
rage  the  worse,  just  as  the  seer  is  the  more 
the  Magus  as  he  stands  unmoved  while 
others  nutter  and  buzz. 

In  Longfellow's  journal  occurs  this  no 
tice  (25th  October,  1865):  "Lowell, 
Norton,  and  myself  had  the  first  meeting 
of  our  Dante  Club.  We  read  the  XXV. 
1  Purgatorio,'  and  then  had  a  little  supper. 
We  are  to  meet  every  Wednesday  evening 
at  my  house."  These  meetings  were  kept 
up  throughout  the  winter,  and  were  the 
preface  to  the  appearance  of  Longfellow's 
translation.  Criticisms  were  passed  with 
out  fear  or  favour.  The  three  made  a 
private  seminary  on  Dante  without  either 
unseemly  wrangling  over  absurdities,  or 
the  German  custom  of  sleepily  listening 
to  a  Latin  harangue,  and  interspersing  it 
262 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

with  "  Sanes  "  like  Methodist  "  Amens." 
Criticism  to  a  man  of  a  liberal  education 
means  the  shortest  way  to  the  best  results ; 
to  the  unlearned,  ignorant  man  it  means 
a  fight  of  defence  to  still  his  own  con 
science. 

Mr.  Norton  was  the  first  president  of 
the  American  Institute  of  Archaeology  at 
its  beginning  in  1879.  In  the  short-lived 
Harvard  Register  for  1880  appears  an 
appeal  from  him  for  students  to  take  part 
in  an  expedition  of  excavation  to  Greece; 
a  few  pages  later  is  an  announcement  that 
far  too  many  have  applied,  and  that 
certain  ones  have  been  chosen.  Under 
these  auspices  begun,  the  institute  has  al 
ways  seen  the  "  raven's  flight  on  the 
right,"  and  Assos,  Sicyon,  Thorikos,  Ere- 
tria,  Argos,  and  Corinth  show  forth  our 
good  deeds  in  fair  Hellas,  and  the  new 
American  school  in  Rome  attests  to  Ital- 

263 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ians  our  love  for  lore  in  their  country. 
A  man  of  work  and  attainments,  of  con 
viction  and  courage,  of  dignity  and  quiet 
demeanour,  of  faith  and  hope,  —  such  is 
Charles  Eliot  Norton. 

The  president  of  Harvard  University 
is  also  well  known  to  literature,  for,  in 
addition  to  text-books  on  higher  chemistry, 
he  has  published  several  volumes  of  essays 
on  topics  pertaining  to  political  reform 
and  education.  President  Eliot  has  been 
styled  purely  a  Boston  product.  He  was 
born  here  (1834),  and,  after  a  prepara 
tory  course  at  the  Boston  Latin  School, 
entered  Harvard,  where  he  was  graduated 
in  1853.  Chemistry  was  his  specialty, 
and  he  became  assistant  professor  of  that 
branch,  with  mathematics,  in  1858,  re 
maining  in  that  post  until  1863,  when  he 
went  to  Europe  for  further  study.  He 
was  professor  of  analytical  chemistry  in 
264 


CHAKLES    W.    ELIOT 


LITER AKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology 
from  1865  to  1869,  when  he  resigned  to 
take  the  presidency  of  Harvard  College, 
a  position  he  has  filled  for  thirty-three 
years.  During  this  time  President  Eliot 
has  been  identified  with  the  highest  and 
worthiest  movements  for  the  public  good, 
and  he  is  known  and  respected  in  Boston 
no  whit  less  than  in  Cambridge,  where 
he  has  seen  the  old  university  broaden  and 
develop  under  his  administration  more 
radically  than  it  had  done  in  a  century 
previous.  In  the  social  life  of  both  cities 
President  Eliot  and  his  wife  occupy  a 
prominent  place,  and  his  picturesque 
home,  just  beyond  that  of  Professor 
Palmer,  on  the  edge  of  the  college  grounds 
facing  Quincy  Street,  and  plainly  visible 
to  passers  on  the  trolley-cars  under  the  old 
elms,  has  been  the  centre  and  shelter  of 

265 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

many  exclusive  gatherings  during  the  last 
half  century. 

Quincy  Street  seems  to  be  the  favourite 
haunt  of  Cambridge  literary  folk.  Pro 
fessor  Palmer's  is  the  first  house,  a  delight 
ful  old  colonial  mansion  overlooking  the 
college  grounds.  George  Herbert  Palmer 
has  been  Alford  professor  of  moral  phi 
losophy,  civil  polity,  and  natural  religion 
at  Harvard  since  1889.  He  is  a  native 
of  Boston,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  Uni 
versity,  with  a  post-graduate  course  in 
Germany  and  a  course  of  study  at  the 
Andover  Theological  Seminary.  He  has 
translated  the  Odyssey  into  rhythmic 
prose,  and  written  the  "  New  Education," 
the  "  Glory  of  the  Imperfect,"  "  Self -Cul 
tivation  in  English,"  and  translated  the 
"  Antigone  "  of  Sophocles.  His  last  book, 
"  The  Field  of  Ethics,"  has  been  widely 
commented  upon  and  warmly  received  by 
266 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

the  best  critics  everywhere.  Professor 
Palmer  and  his  wife,  Alice  Freeman 
Palmer,  occupy  a  high  place  in  Cambridge 
and  Boston  society,  and  their  home  is  the 
pleasant  resort  of  a  host  of  friends. 

Next  to  Professor  Palmer's  house  is 
that  of  President  Eliot,  whose  next  neigh 
bour  beyond  is  Professor  Nathaniel  Sha- 
ler,  dean  of  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School 
and  professor  of  geology  in  Harvard  Uni 
versity.  Professor  Shaler  is  a  native  o£ 
Kentucky,  who  served  as  an  officer  in  the 
Union  army  during  the  Civil  War,  after 
which  he  became  instructor  in  zoology  and 
geology  at  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School, 
where  he  graduated  in  1862.  As  geolo 
gist,  he  has  served  the  United  States  Gov 
ernment  in  the  Geological  Survey  of  the 
Atlantic  division.  He  has  done  a  great 
deal  of  literary  work,  having  published 
some  fourteen  or  fifteen  books,  besides 

267 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

numerous  magazine  articles  of  a  scientific 
nature. 

Professor  C.  C.  Langdell,  the  next  in 
this  row  of  college  professors,  graduated 
from  the  Harvard  Law  School  in  1853, 
and  practised  law  in  New  York  until 
1870,  when  he  became  dean  of  the  law 
faculty  of  Harvard  University.  He  has 
written  four  valuable  books  connected 
with  the  law.  A  world-famous  name  is 
attached  to  the  next  house  on  Quincy 
Street,  this  being  the  residence  of  Pro 
fessor  Alexander  Agassiz,  and  also  of  Mrs. 
Louis  Agassiz,  his  mother,  who  has  writ 
ten  a  couple  of  good  books.  Professor 
Agassiz  is  a  son  of  the  great  naturalist, 
and  is  the  curator  of  the  Natural  History 
Museum  in  Cambridge.  He  has  written 
several  books  connected  with  his  special 
work,  in  one  of  which  he  was  assisted  by 
his  mother,  who  is  also  an  accomplished 
268 


LITEEAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

naturalist  and  a  woman  deeply  interested 
in  all  progressive  movements  of  the  day. 
Here,  too,  live  Professor  J.  H.  Wright 
and  his  wife,  Mary  Tappan  Wright,  both 
of  whom  are  well-known  writers. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  lives 
Professor  Sumichrast,  and  farther  along 
Professor  Farlow,  professor  of  botany  at 
Harvard  since  1879,  and  a  prominent 
authority  on  cryptogamic  botany.  Pro 
fessor  Farlow  has  written  several  books 
on  botanical  subjects,  which  rank  among 
the  best  of  botanical  work. 

The  name  of  Barrett  Wendell  is  well 
known  in  literature,  and,  although  he  is 
a  resident  of  Marlboro  Street,  Boston, 
he  belongs  to  Cambridge,  where  he  is  pro 
fessor  of  English  in  Harvard  University. 
He  has  written  two  popular  novels,  several 
volumes  of  essays,  and  various  historical 
books  connected  with  literature. 

269 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Professor  Taussig,  professor  of  politi 
cal  economy  at  Harvard,  is  the  author  of 
several  books  on  that  subject  and  editor 
of  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics, 
Albert  Bushnell  Hart  has  written  a  dozen 
valuable  works  connected  with  history, 
and  is  joint  editor  of  the  Harvard  Grad 
uates'  Magazine  and  the  American  His 
torical  Review.  He  has  been  professor 
of  history  at  Harvard  for  some  years. 

Professor  John  Trowbridge  is  well 
known  as  a  writer  on  electricity  and  phys 
ics,  and  the  author  of  several  books  on 
that  subject.  He  has  been  Rumford  pro 
fessor  of  applied  science  at  Harvard  since 
1888. 

Professor  Arthur  Oilman,  head  of  the 
famous  Oilman  School  for  Oirls  in  Cam 
bridge,  and  the  originator  of  Harvard  An 
nex,  of  which  he  was  the  executive  officer 
when  it  became  Radcliife  College,  is  the 
270 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

author  of  many  valuable  books,  many  of 
them  of  a  popular  nature.  His  wife  has 
also  written  several  books  under  the  name 
of  Marion  Vaughn.  Professor  Gilman 
lives  in  a  beautiful  old  mansion  facing 
historic  Cambridge  Common  and  almost 
opposite  the  old  Washington  elm. 

Two  well-known  Cambridge  names  have 
only  recently  been  removed  from  the  list 
of  authors  connected  with  Harvard  Col 
lege,  Mr.  Horace  Scudder,  for  so  many 
years  editor  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly,,  and 
Professor  John  Fiske,  both  of  whom  have 
been  removed  by  the  hand  of  death  within 
six  months. 

Mr.  Samuel  H.  Scudder,  the  naturalist, 
is  still  doing  much  literary  work  connected 
with  his  researches,  work  that  is  of  the 
highest  value.  Professor  Ashley  of  the 
chair  of  economic  history  has  written  a 
number  of  books  along  the  line  of  his 

271 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

specialty.  Professor  Davis  has  written 
several  geological  works,  while  Professor 
William  J.  Rolfe  has  been  famous  for 
many  years  as  a  writer  and  lecturer  on 
Shakespeare.  Professor  Lyon,  of  the  Har 
vard  Divinity  School,  one  of  the  most 
famous  authorities  on  Semitic  languages 
and  history  in  the  world,  has  given  us 
a  number  of  volumes  connected  with  Bib 
lical  and  Assyrian  literature.  Of  Colonel 
Higginson's  work  we  have  already  spoken ; 
for,  although  he  is  not  of  Harvard  College, 
he  still  belongs  to  the  Cambridge  literary 
set.  Professor  Williams  has  written  sev 
eral  text-books  on  the  Greek  language, 
of  which  he  is  professor  at  Harvard,  while 
the  name  of  Arthur  Searle,  professor  of 
astronomy  at  Harvard,  may  be  seen  on 
the  title-page  of  certain  astronomical 
works.  Professor  Asa  Gray,  the  world- 
famed  botanist  of  other  days,  has  given 
272 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

place  at  Harvard  to  George  Lincoln  Good- 
ale,  who  has  published  a  number  of  bo 
tanical  works.  Professor  Lanman,  the 
Sanscrit  and  Oriental  professor  at  Har 
vard,  has  a  long  list  of  books  credited  to 
him  on  Buddhism  and  the  Sanscrit  lan 
guage.  Professor  Pickering,  who  has 
charge  of  Harvard  Observatory,  is  the 
author  of  certain  valuable  works  on  astron 
omy,  and  Professor  William  James  is 
equally  well  known  as  an  authority  on 
psychological  topics.  Josiah  Royce,  pro 
fessor  of  the  history  of  philosophy,  has 
written  books  on  a  variety  of  subjects  from 
fiction  to  religion.  Professor  Peabody  is 
the  author  of  a  number  of  helpful  books 
on  religion,  as  is  also  Professor  Thayer, 
who  occupies  the  chair  of  New  Testament 
criticism  and  interpretation  at  the  Har 
vard  Divinity  School.  Professor  Miins- 
terberg  is  the  author  of  a  number  of 

273 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

valuable  works  on  psychology,  both  in 
German  and  in  English,  and  his  "  Amer 
ican  Traits  "  is  one  of  the  recent  popular 
books. 

Other  well-known  writers  in  Cambridge 
are  the  Reverend  Samuel  Crothers,  the 
Reverend  Alexander  McKenzie,  the  Rev 
erend  William  Johnson,  and  the  Reverend 
William  Basil  King,  formerly  of  Christ 
Church. 

Wellesley  College  contributes  a  number 
of  writers  to  Boston's  literary  set,  among 
whom  are  Miss  Katharine  Lee  Bates,  pro 
fessor  of  literature  and  author  of  many 
delightful  books.  The  president  of 
Wellesley,  Miss  Caroline  Hazard,  has 
published  several  books ;  Professor  Kath- 
erine  Coman  is  the  author  of  a  number 
of  books  on  English  history.  Florence 
Converse,  the  author  of  two  successful 
novels,  has  been  connected  with  Wellesley 
274 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

College,  and  Miss  Vida  Scudder,  a  niece 
of  Mr.  Horace  Scudder  and  a  professor 
at  Wellesley,  has  published  a  number  of 
interesting  and  valuable  books  on  litera 
ture.  The  name  of  Sophie  Jewett  is 
familiar  to  magazine  readers.  In  Welles- 
ley,  too,  lives  Miss  Julia  Eastman,  who 
has  written  gome  delightful  children's 
books. 

The  president  of  the  Massachusetts  In 
stitute  of  Technology,  Henry  S.  Pritchett, 
is  the  author  of  various  scientific  papers; 
Gaetano  Lanza,  professor  of  theoretical 
and  applied  mechanics  at  this  institution, 
has  also  published  many  books  and  papers 
useful  to  the  scientific  world.  Boston 
University  gives  us  several  well-known 
writers,  and  Tufts  College  contributes  a 
number  of  names  well  known  to  the  lit 
erary  world. 

275 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

CHARLOTTE  PORTER  AND  HELEN  ARCHI 
BALD  CLARKE,  EDITORS  OF  POET-LORE, 
LOUISE  IMOGEN  GUINEY,  MAY  ALDEN 
WARD,  AND  WILLIAM  G.  WARD 

POET-LORE  has  been  an  essential 
part  of  "  Literary  Boston  "  for  a 

dozen  years  or  more,  and  its  two 
editors  are  well  known  in  all  the  literary 
sets,  as  well  as  in  the  club  world.  Char 
lotte  Porter,  the  senior,  was  born  with  a 
decided  bent  from  the  earliest  for  books 
and  for  out-of-doors,  —  her  two  main  en 
thusiasms  ever  since.  She  rightly  ac 
counts  it  good  luck  that  she  came  into 
being  in  a  country  town,  among  view- 

276 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

commanding  hills  by  the  swift  and  sinuous 
Susquehanna  River;  and  that  she  came 
into  a  sense  of  life  through  familiar  com 
panionship  with  the  library  of  several 
thousand  volumes  belonging  to  her  father's 
sister,  the  aunt  for  whom  she  was  named. 
That  library  was  a  beautiful  room  occu 
pying  a  large  wing  of  the  house  and  rising 
to  the  roof,  with  galleries  along  the  second 
story,  connecting  with  the  chamber's  of  the 
body  of  the  house  and  with  stairways  from 
the  galleries  to  the  floor  of  the  library, 
which  made  it  all  seem  very  stately  and 
fascinating.  In  a  wide,  deep  embrasure 
at  the  side,  with  an  arched  window  of 
stained  glass,  shelved  on  either  wall,  all 
the  oldest  and  most  valuable  volumes  were 
kept,  and  there  the  future  author  and 
editor  liked  best  to  be.  There  was  a  com 
plete  set  of  knightly  armour  there,  set  up, 
a  hollow  iron  man  which  she  used  to  scare 

277 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

herself  with  thrillingly,  as  a  little  girl,  by 
going  up  to  it,  alone,  in  the  twilight,  be 
fore  the  lamps  were  lit.  Above  it  was  an 
American  eagle,  with  wings  outspread,  on 
a  perch  in  the  high  obscurity  of  the  roof, 
and  there  was  always  something  signifi 
cant  in  the  supremacy  of  that  above  the 
medieval  knight  before  she  understood 
really  what  it  might  symbolise.  Besides, 
there  was  an  alcove  room  off  the  gallery, 
where  Indian  relics  were  kept,  in  which 
her  aunt  was  especially  interested,  and 
which  were  dug  up  from  an  old  Indian 
burying-ground  at  the  bend  of  the  river 
below  the  town.  This  little  museum  gave 
her  the  idea  of  a  race  banished  to  give  us 
room,  and  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
the  child,  along  with  that  which  the  oldest 
books  gave  her  in  the  embrasure  over 
which  the  eagle  soared.  She  was  free  to 
go  at  will  there  as  a  very  little  child,  be- 
278 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

cause  her  wise  aunt  knew  the  child  was 
fond  of  books,  and  so  Charlotte  Porter 
was  brought  up  on  black-letter.  Her  fa 
vourite  picture-book  was  a  copy  of  the 
Niiremburg  Chronicles  of  1495,  one  of  the 
first  volumes  printed  by  Gutenberg,  a  his 
tory  of  the  world  in  folio,  with  the  quaint 
est  of  wood-cuts. 

"  The  vista,  the  sense  of  the  long  past, 
and  of  the  universal,"  says  Miss  Porter, 
"  it  gave  my  imagination  then,  no  amount 
of  travel  and  experience  I  can  ever  get 
will  ever  surpass."  Her  forebears  for 
many  generations  were  bom  in  Connecti 
cut,  where  the  family  had  moved  on  from 
Danvers,  Massachusetts.  Her  mother  was 
born  in  Towanda,  in  the  northern  part  of 
Pennsylvania,  settled  from  Connecticut, 
for  which  Penn  had  to  treat  with  Con 
necticut  when  he  desired  to  make  it  a  part 
of  Pennsylvania ;  but  the  grandfather, 

279 


LITEKARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

one  of  the  earliest  settlers,  a  physician 
who  used  to  ride  through  the  counties 
along  the  "  northern  tier,"  with  his  sad 
dle-bags  full  of  potions  and  lotions,  was 
also  from  New  England.  So  she  can 
claim  to  be  in  derivation  Yankee,  born 
away  from  home. 

Miss  Porter  read  and  studied  very  much 
as  she  pleased  under  the  private  instruc 
tion  of  a  myth  and  history  and  poetry- 
loving  teacher  who  was  very  congenial; 
hence,  browsing  at  pleasure  in  the  aunt's 
library  figured  largely  in  her  education. 
She  read  Shakespeare  at  ten,  and  espe 
cially  remembers  a  series  of  books  of  her 
father's,  called  "The  English  Stage." 
The  only  book  he  ever  took  away  from  her 
was  a  translation  he  had  of  Aristophanes' 
"  Sysistrate,"  which  he  found  the  child 
reading  at  a  tender  age. 

She  went  to  Wells  College  later,  a  little 
280 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

disappointed  because  it  was  decided  that 
she  could  not  be  parted  from  for  a  four- 
years'  course.  She  was  graduated  from 
there  in  two  years.  She  had  already  writ 
ten  a  good  deal  (destroying  it  all  in  a  fine 
frenzy  later),  and  had  printed  things  in 
the  town  paper.  At  Wells  she  was  the 
editor  of  the  college  paper,  did  a  great 
deal  of  lounging  out-of-doors,  driving, 
and  boating  on  the  river  with  her  brother. 
When  her  father  died,  her  family 
moved  to  Philadelphia,  and  there  outdoors 
was  not  so  enticing,  and  she  wrote  more, 
printing  various  articles  in  the  Continent, 
American,  and  Shakespearian,  all  Phila 
delphia  periodicals;  also  in  the  Index 
(Boston)  and  in  the  Century.  In  March, 
1886,  after  she  returned  from  Europe, 
she  was  asked  to  become  editor  of  Shake- 
speariana.  Henceforth  editing  and  inci 
dental  review-writing  and  the  like  ab- 

281 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

sorbed  most  of  her  time.  She  was  editor 
of  Shakespeariana  until  the  close  of  1888, 
and  then  became  the  first  editor  of  what 
is  now  the  International  Journal  of  Eth 
ics,  then  the  Ethical  Record. 

Late  in  1888  the  idea  seized  Miss  Clarke 
and  Miss  Porter  of  starting  a  magazine 
which  should  be  devoted  broadly  yet 
purely  to  exalted  world  literature  —  to 
culture  —  or  "  Poet-Lore." 

"  We  had  to  coin  the  name  to  express 
what  we  meant,"  says  she ;  "  we  planned 
it,  and  sent  out  a  prospectus  asking  for 
subscriptions  from  those  interested  in  the 
idea,  and  we  issued  the  first  number  of 
the  magazine  January,  1889,  inside  of  two 
months'  time  having  secured  a  good  list 
of  subscribers  in  advance  of  the  first  issue. 

"  In  April,  1892,  we  moved  Poet-Lore 
and  ourselves  to  Boston,  and  took  up  our 
abode  where  Boston  seemed  to  us  most 
282 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

picturesquely  Boston,  —  in  the  heart  of 
the  town,  close  by  the  common,  on  the 
crest  of  Beacon  Hill." 

The  private  work  Miss  Porter  has  done 
is  closely  shouldered  by  the  succession  of 
books  the  two  young  women  have  been 
asked  to  edit,  as  well  as  by  the  critical 
and  editorial  and  educational  work  and  the 
translations  in  which  the  magazine  has 
involved  them,  which  are  revealed  in  the 
fourteen  yearly  volumes  of  Poet-Lore. 

Miss  Helen:  Archibald  Clarke,  her  as 
sociate  since  1888,  has  an  equally  in 
teresting  history.  As  a  child  she  was 
wonderfully  proficient  in  music,  not  only 
playing  the  piano  at  the  age  of  four,  but 
reading  music  at  sight  when  she  was  five. 
As  a  little  girl,  with  long  golden  curls, 
she  played  a  hymn  on  the  large  church 
organ  at  Holy  Trinity,  in  Philadelphia, 
to  the  delectation  of  the  admiring  choir. 

283 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

She  studied  with  governesses  up  to  thir 
teen,  then  went  to  the  private  school  of 
Miss  Mary  Anna  Longstreth,  and  later 
to  her  successor,  Miss  Bart,  graduating 
at  the  age  of  seventeen  at  the  head  of  her 
class.  At  school  she  had  an  especial  pre 
dilection  for  scientific  studies,  especially 
in  the  line  of  natural  philosophy  or  phys 
ics.  Her  reading  during  this  time  in 
cluded  most  of  the  standard  novels  and 
science,  with  discussions  on  the  conflict 
between  science  and  religion,  essays  by 
Huxley,  Tyndall,  Spencer,  etc.  After 
leaving  school,  she  took  special  courses  in 
Latin,  literature,  French,  and  German, 
also  a  course  in  physics  in  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  and  a  course  in  harmony 
and  composition,  graduating  in  two  years, 
Then  came  a  good  time  in  society  for 
several  years,  with  the  usual  round  of 
dances  and  card-parties,  until  she  grew 
284 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

tired  of  it.  She  played  constantly  during 
the  time  at  private  musicales,  and  was 
regarded  as  the  best  amateur  pianist  in 
Philadelphia.  She  composed  many  songs, 
piano  pieces,  part  songs,  and  a  sonata  for 
piano  and  'cello,  which  was  performed  in 
public;  some  of  these  were  published, 
some  not,  but,  in  consequence  of  their  com 
positions,  Miss  Clarke  was  made  the  only 
woman  charter  member  of  the  composer 
class  in  the  Music  Manuscript  Society, 
founded  a  few  years  ago  in  Philadelphia. 
But  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  every  one 
said  she  would  devote  herself  heart  and 
soul  to  music,  and  prophesied  distinction 
in  that  line,  Miss  Clarke  turned  her  at 
tention,  in  1888,  to  literature  in  its  hum 
bler  phases,  and  began  writing  essays  and 
critical  papers,  as  has  been  stated,  in  1889. 
She  cooperated  with  Miss  Porter  in  found  • 
ing  Poet-Lore.  That  she  has  not  given 

285 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

up  music  altogether,  however,  is  evidenced 
by  the  fact  that  she  has  recently  composed 
songs  and  piano  music,  and  often  plays  to 
friends  who  appreciate  classical  music. 
In  answer  to  the  question,  "  What  books 
have  influenced  you  most  ?  "  Miss  Clarke 
once  said :  "  Herbert  Spencer  and  John 
Fiske,  Robert  Browning  and  Walt  Whit 
man,  and,  above  all,  the  music  of  Bee 
thoven." 

Miss  Porter  and  Miss  Clarke  have  ed 
ited  and  compiled  several  books  in  collab 
oration.  Among  these  are  "  Select  Poems 
of  Robert  Browning  with  Biographical 
and  Critical  Introductions  and  Notes,"  in 
two  volumes ;  "  The  Ring  and  the  Book," 
with  introductory  essay  and  notes; 
"  Clever  Tales  "  from  the  French,  Rus 
sian,  Bohemian,  etc. ;  Robert  Browning's 
Complete  Works,  Camberwell  Edition,  in 
twelve  volumes,  with  critical  introductions 
286 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

for  each  volume,  notes,  bibliography,  etc. ; 
Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning's  Complete 
Works,  Coxhall  Edition,  in  six  volumes, 
also  with  critical  introductions  and  notes, 
etc.  Then  there  are  the  Browning  Study 
Programmes,  Shakespeare  Stories,  and 
Macbeth,  and  they  are  now  busily  en 
gaged  on  the  preparation  of  an  edition 
of  Shakespeare  constructed  in  such  a  way 
as  to  put  before  one  at  a  glance  both  the 
original  Elizabethan  text  of  1623  and  the 
modern  Victorian  text,  giving  facts  en 
abling  one  to  see  readily  what  three 
centuries  of  Shakespeare  editing  have 
amounted  to.  Their  translations  were 
the  first  made  in  English  of  Maeterlinck's 
"The  Blind,"  "The  Seven  Princesses," 
and  "  Pelleas  and  Melisande."  Both  of 
these  writers  have  prepared  and  read  able 
papers  before  the  Boston  Browning  So- 

287 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ciety,  and  both  have  been  connected  with 
it  from  the  beginning. 

They  live  in  an  apartment  in  one  of 
the  roomy  old  mansions  on  Joy  Street, 
just  off  the  historic  Boston  Common, 
where,  surrounded  by  a  world  of  books 
and  many  fine  pictures,  they  work  busily 
all  the  hours  when  they  are  not  browsing 
in  the  Public  Library  or  the  Athenaeum, 
and  the  occasional  recreation  hour,  when 
they  welcome  and  make  glad  their  appre 
ciative  friends. 

Louise  Imogen  Guiney,  of  course,  is 
the  poet  among  Boston  women  who  ranks 
next  to  Mrs.  Moulton ;  some  even  place 
her  above.  Miss  Guiney  has  been  writing 
some  fifteen  years,  and,  although  she  is 
not  a  prolific  worker,  perhaps  because  of 
that,  her  verse  is  exquisitely  polished. 
Miss  Guiney  lived  many  years  at  Auburn- 
dale,  where  she  held  the  ofiice  of  post- 
288 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

master  for  some  time.  She  occupied  a 
pleasant,  spacious  house  filled  with  every 
thing  that  is  lovely  to  the  literary  mind, 
which,  of  course,  means  plenty  of  books. 
Her  devotion  to  dogs,  of  which  she  has  a 
number  of  fine  specimens,  is  well  known, 
and  in  all  her  walks  abroad  she  is  accom 
panied  by  one  or  more  of  her  beloved  pets. 
Miss  Guiney  was  the  only  child  of  Gen 
eral  P.  R.  Guiney,  of  Boston,  and  was 
born  in  1861.  After  graduating  from  a 
private  school  in  Providence,  Rhode  Is 
land,  she  studied  under  private  tutors,  and 
then  went  abroad  for  two  years.  She  be 
gan  to  contribute  to  the  leading  magazines 
in  1885,  and  since  then  has  published 
several  volumes  of  poetry  and  of  critical 
essays,  besides  editing  an  edition  of  Mat 
thew  Arnold  and  one  or  two  other  authors. 
Miss  Guiney  has  been  in  England  for  two 
years  past,  where  she  is  an  important  ad- 

289 


LITERARY  BOSTON  OF  TO-DAY 

dition  to  the  literary  set,  and  is  hard  at 
work  on  a  new  book. 

Mrs.  Emma  Endicott  Marean,  associ 
ate  editor  of  the  Christian  Register,  has 
done  some  excellent  literary  work,  and  is 
a  thoroughly  literary  woman  in  taste  and 
in  work. 

Mrs.  May  Alden  Ward,  the  president 
of  the  Massachusetts  State  Federation  of 
Woman's  Clubs  and  a  well-known  lecturer 
on  literary  topics,  has  written  four  excel 
lent  books  of  a  scholarly  character.  Mrs. 
Ward  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  takes  pride 
in  being  a  direct  descendant  of  John 
Alden  and  Priscilla  Mullin  of  old  Plym 
outh  Colony.  She  is  a  graduate  of  Ohio 
Wesleyan  University,  with  two  years  ad 
ditional  study  in  Germany.  Her  hus 
band,  William  G.  Ward,  is  a  professor 
of  English  literature  in  Syracuse  Uni 
versity  and  also  at  the  Emerson  College 
290 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

of  Oratory  in  Boston.  He,  too,  is  an 
author,  having  written  some  delightful 
books  on  Tennyson  and  Robert  Browning, 
and  also  a  collection  of  literary  essays  and 
a  valuable  treatise  on  "  Art  for  Schools." 
Professor  Ward  is  a  popular  lecturer,  too, 
on  literary  topics,  being  gifted  with  elo 
quence  backed  up  by  a  thorough  scholarly 
knowledge  of  his  subjects.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ward  live  at  281  Dartmouth  Street,  just 
off  Copley  Square,  Boston,  where  their 
rooms  are  marked  by  the  distinctly  lit 
erary  atmosphere  of  the  hard-working 
student.  They  have  one  daughter,  Helen 
Alden  Ward,  a  graduate  of  Radcliffe,  who 
gives  promise  of  the  same  literary  gifts 
which  distinguish  both  parents. 


291 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

NATHAN  HASKELL  DOLE,  CHARLES  F.  DOLE, 
GEORGE  WILLIS  COOKE,  SAM  WALTER 
FOSS,  CHARLES  FOLLEN  ADAMS,  AND 
EDWARD  PAYSON  JACKSON 

rHERE   was  born   in   Chelsea,    a 
suburb  of  Boston,  on  the  fifteenth 
of  August,  in  the  year  1852,  a 
boy  who  was   destined   to   fill   no  unim 
portant  place  in  the  world  of  American 
literature.     That  boy  was  Nathan  Haskell 
Dole,   and  by  birth  and  achievement  he 
has  the  right  to  be  classed  with  the  writers 
who  make  up  the  literary  Boston  of  the 
present  day. 

Mr.  Dole  is  the  son  of  the  Reverend 
292 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Nathan  Dole,  a  Congregational  minister 
and  a  man  of  unusual  literary  attain 
ments.  Mrs.  Dole  was  a  Miss  Fletcher 
of  Norridgewock,  Maine.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Dole  gave  their  son  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Chelsea,  and  later  he 
went  to  school  in  Exeter  and  Andover. 
He  finally  entered  Harvard  College,  with 
such  young  men  of  promise  as  Paul  Dana, 
Ernest  Fenollosa,  Charles  Penhallow, 
Richard  Dana,  and  Richard  Sears. 

Mr.  Dole's  literary  career  began  with 
his  Harvard  days,  for,  while  he  was  a  stu 
dent  at  the  famous  old  college,  he  tuned 
his  lyre,  and  wrote  his  first  poetry,  which 
appeared  in  the  Boston  Transcript,  that 
Mecca  of  the  young  poets  of  the  past  as 
well  as  of  the  present  day.  Mr.  Dole's 
remuneration  for  these  first  flights  into 
the  realm  of  poetry  was  not  large,  since 
his  inborn  love  of  music  made  him  ready 

293 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

to  exchange  his  poems  for  opera  tickets 
at  the  office  of  the  Transcript.  There 
have,  however,  been  poets  whose  compen 
sation  for  their  first  work  has  been  even 
less  than  this,  so  that  Mr.  Dole  may  con 
gratulate  himself  on  having  made  a  very 
good  beginning. 

Following  the  very  good  example  of 
many  college  graduates  of  his  day,  Mr. 
Dole  began  teaching  when  his  college  days 
were  done.  His  first  experience  as  a 
teacher  was  at  De  Veaux  College,  Niagara 
Falls.  He  also  taught  in  the  Worcester 
High  School  and  in  the  Derby  Academy 
at  Hingham,  Massachusetts.  All  this  was 
valuable  as  experience  and  as  discipline, 
but,  as  the  young  teacher  had  early  de 
cided  to  enter  the  pleasant  fields  of  litera 
ture,  he  felt  that  he  had  taught  quite  long 
enough,  and  when  an  opportunity  came 
for  him  to  connect  himself  with  the  pub- 
294 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

lishing  house  of  Estes  &  Lauriat  in  Bos 
ton,  Mr.  Dole  gladly  availed  himself  of 
it,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  he 
has  been  engaged  in  literary  pursuits  as 
a  reader  of  manuscripts,  a  translator, 
writer,  editor,  and  literary  adviser.  While 
with  Estes  &  Lauriat,  Mr.  Dole  prepared 
for  them  Rambaud's  "  Russia,"  a  work 
that  aroused  his  interest  in  Russia  to  such 
a  degree  that  he  made  a  most  thorough 
study  of  that  country,  and  wrote  a  "  Young 
People's  History  of  Russia,"  which  was 
his  first  venture  into  the  field  of  histori 
cal  writing. 

Mr.  Dole  then  became  the  literary, 
musical,  and  art  critic  of  the  Philadelphia 
Press,  and  later  he  accepted  the  position 
of  editor  of  the  New  York  Epoch.  Re 
ceiving  an  offer  from  the  publishing  house 
of  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  to  enter  their 
house  as  a  literary  adviser,  he  accepted 

295 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

the  position,  and  remained  with  them 
until  the  removal  of  the  firm  from  Bos 
ton  to  New  York.  Mr.  Dole  then  accepted 
a  position  with  the  publishing  house  of 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  and,  after  spending 
some  months  in  New  York,  he  returned 
to  Boston,  where  he  has  become  a  free 
lance  in  the  literary  world. 

Few  men  of  his  years  have  done  the  vast 
amount  of  work  Mr.  Dole  has  done,  and 
made  all  of  it  of  so  much  literary  value. 
His  versatility  has  been  so  remarkable  that 
it  would  seem  as  if  Mr.  Dole  possessed  the 
happy  faculty  of  being  able  to  "  turn  his 
hand  "  to  anything  in  the  way  of  literary 
effort.  Writing  of  Mr.  Dole's  many  ac 
complishments,  one  of  his  friends  says: 

"  Dole  is  a  kind  of  a  Mezzof  anti.  Sup 
plementing  his  college  acquirements,  he 
has  picked  up  one  language  after  another, 
until  he  has  been  able  to  translate,  not 
296 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

only  from  Greek  and  Latin,  but  from  the 
Russian,  German,  French,  Spanish,  Swe 
dish,  Bohemian,  Italian,  Hungarian,  and 
Polish.  His  passion  for  Tolstoi  is  a 
marked  feature  of  his  career.  He  has 
made  translations  of  ten  of  the  great 
apostle's  works.  l  War  and  Peace '  he 
was  translating  at  the  same  time  when 
'  With  Fire  and  Sword  '  was  on  the  way. 
Mr.  Curtin  exchanged  greetings  with  Mr. 
Dole  while  the  work  was  going  on,  and 
presented  to  him  compliments  upon  it, 
which  have  been  very  gratifying.  His 
4  Anna  Karenina  '  was  another  notable  bit 
of  translation.  People  have  not  forgotten 
the  feat  by  which  Mr.  Dole  created  a 
version  of  '  Trilby  of  Argyle '  in  a  few 
hours,  to  meet  the  edition  which  another 
firm  was  at  work  in  preparing.  His  book 
of  poems,  called  '  The  Hawthorn  Tree,' 
was  quite  acceptable.  It  exhibits  powers 

297 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

of  versification,  and  a  great  ideality  of 
feeling  as  well.  It  is  an  admirable  pocket 
companion  in  the  country.  Mr.  Dole  has 
published  two  novels,  which  have  had  a 
far  better  than  average  sale.  He  has  done 
a  good  deal  of  lecturing  before  schools, 
university  extension  associations,  and 
women's  clubs.  His  lectures  on  Russian 
literature  have  been  delivered  in  Phila 
delphia,  New  York,  Boston,  and  else 
where.  That  on  '  Originality  in  Litera 
ture  and  Art '  has  been  most  successful." 

No  mention  of  Mr.  Dole  would  be  com 
plete  without  reference  to  his  work  in 
connection  with  Omar  Khayyam.  Re 
ferring  to  this  work,  Time  and  the  Hour 
says: 

"  Though  not  a  pessimist  nor  alto 
gether  approving  of  the  philosophy  of 
Omar,  Mr.  Dole  enjoys  the  literary  qual 
ity  of  his  words  and  works.  He  has  not 
298 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

surrendered  himself  to  the  mental  preoc 
cupation  of  his  delicious  author,  but  he 
is  possessed  with  the  dangerous  material 
passion  of  the  collector.  His  shelves  of 
Omar,  not  quite  complete,  are  exceedingly 
interesting  and  valuable.  The  magnum 
opus,  the  two-volume  Rubaiyat,  published 
by  Page  in  1896  for  Mr.  Dole,  leads  all 
the  rest.  Here  the  English,  French,  Ger 
man,  Italian,  and  Danish  versions  follow 
each  other,  and  all  the  others  are  discussed 
with  notes,  portraits,  bibliography,  and 
every  kind  of  illumination  and  illustra 
tion.  The  portraits,  and  especially  the 
Persian  pictures,  are  exceedingly  impor 
tant.  The  book  well  represents  a  year's 
hard  labour.  His  beautiful  pocket  edi 
tion  of  the  Rubaiyat  in  English  and  Latin 
is  a  charming  convenience  for  the  worship 
per  who  carries  about  the  manual  for  acts 
of  private  communion  and  worship.  Mr. 

299 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Dole  has  ready  a  volume,  giving  all  of 
Fitzgerald's  work  for  the  Persian  poet, 
the  three  versions,  and  much  illustrative 
matter." 

Mr.  Dole  has  added  to  his  many  other 
literary  labours  that  of  editing  two  libra 
ries  of  literature.  His  translations  have 
exceeded  those  of  any  other  writer  in  Bos 
ton.  They  include  translations  of  books, 
poems,  and  stories  from  the  French,  Swe 
dish,  Italian,  and  Hungarian.  Mr.  Dole 
was  the  first  American  correspondent  of 
Octave  Uzanne's  monthly  bibliographical 
journal,  Le  Livre.  He  has  done  admir 
able  work  as  a  correspondent,  and,  when  in 
the  right  vein,  he  has  composed  some  ex 
ceedingly  clever  humourous  poetry.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Authors'  Club  of  Bos 
ton  and  also  of  the  Twentieth  Century 
Club,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  important 
club  in  the  city  of  Boston. 
300 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

Mr.  Dole's  home,  "  Hedgecote,"  is  a 
charming  place,  with  all  of  Boston's  great 
Franklin  Park  for  an  outlook  and  for 
breathing  space.  Here  he  does  his  work, 
and  here  his  friends  find  him  at  his  best. 

The  Reverend  Charles  F.  Dole,  pastor 
of  the  Unitarian  church  at  Jamaica  Plain 
and  brother  of  Nathan  Haskell  Dole,  has 
written  several  valuable  books  of  an  ethi 
cal  nature,  which  give  evidence  of  the 
scholarly  mind  and  catholic  nature  of  one 
of  Boston's  finest  preachers. 

More  than  one  man  educated  for  the 
ministry,  and  entering  upon  the  career 
of  a  minister,  has  forsaken  the  pulpit  for 
the  pen,  and  found  in  the  fields  of  litera 
ture  more  congenial  work,  and  work  for 
which  they  were  better  fitted  than  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  Mr.  George  Willis 
Cooke  is  one  of  these  men.  It  is  certain 
that  he  would  have  done  excellent  and  val- 

301 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

uable  work  as  a  minister,  but  his  contribu 
tions  to  American  literature  must  have 
been  lessened  had  he  remained  in  the  min 
istry.  We  could  ill  afford  to  have  lost 
some  of  the  work  Mr.  Cooke  has  done. 
He  ranks  among  our  clearest  and  most 
progressive  thinkers.  He  is  a  careful  and 
conscientious  writer  and  a  recognised  au 
thority  along  certain  lines  of  thought. 

Mr.  Cooke  is  a  Westerner  by  birth,  for 
he  first  saw  the  light  of  day  on  the  twenty- 
third  of  April,  in  the  year  1848,  in  Corn- 
stock,  Michigan.  He  received  the  greater 
part  of  his  education  at  Olivet  College  in 
Michigan,  Jefferson  Institute  in  Wiscon 
sin,  and  at  the  Meadville  Theological 
School  in  Pennsylvania.  Having  fitted 
himself  for  the  Unitarian  ministry,  he  has 
had  parishes  in  Grand  Haven,  Michigan; 
Indianapolis,  Indiana;  and  in  Lexington, 
Massachusetts,  and  Dublin,  New  Hamp- 
302 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

shire.  Three  years  ago,  Mr.  Cooke  re 
tired  permanently  from  the  ministry, 
removed  to  Wakefield,  Massachusetts,  near 
Boston,  and  gave  himself  up  entirely  to 
literary  pursuits.  He  had  devoted  a  great 
deal  of  time  to  writing  while  in  the  min 
istry,  having  published,  in  1881,  his  book 
entitled  "  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson :  His 
Life,  Writings,  and  Philosophy."  Two 
years  later  Mr.  Cooke  published  "  George 
Eliot,  a  Critical  Study,"  and  in  1886  his 
"  Poets  and  Problems  "  appeared.  The 
next  year  he  published  a  volume  under 
the  unique  title  of  "  The  Clapboard-Trees 
Parish,  Dedham,  Mass."  Then  came  his 
"  Guide-Book  to  the  Poetic  and  Dramatic 
Writings  of  Robert  Browning  "  and  "  The 
Spiritual  Life."  In  1898  Mr.  Cooke  pub 
lished  "  Early  Letters  of  George  William 
Curtis  to  John  S.  Dwight "  and  also  the 
"Biography  of  John  S.  Dwight."  His 

303 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

latest  contribution  to  the  world  of  books 
has  been  a  "  History  of  Unitarianism  in 
America." 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  long  and 
varied  list  of  books  that  Mr.  Cooke  has 
been  a  busy  man  and  a  close  student.  His 
work  is  characterised  by  the  most  pains 
taking  effort,  and  it  forms  valuable  addi 
tions  to  our  American  literature. 

In  addition  to  the  many  books  he  has 
written  and  to  the  important  work  he  has 
done  as  a  minister,  Mr.  Cooke  has  been 
a  frequent  contributor  to  papers  and  mag 
azines,  and  he  is  now  a  regular  editorial 
contributor  to  the  Boston  Transcript,  a 
paper  to  which  he  has  contributed  many 
articles  dealing  with  problems  of  the  day. 
He  is  a  forcible  and  convincing  editorial 
writer,  and  one  who  has  added  not  a  little 
to  Boston's  literary  prestige. 

The  Reverend  George  Gordon,  of  the 
304 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Old  South  Church;  Reverend  Samuel 
Herrick,  of  the  Mount  Vernon  Church; 
Reverend  Edward  Cummings,  who  has 
succeeded  to  Doctor  Bale's  pulpit;  Rev 
erend  Edward  L.  Clark,  of  the  Central 
Congregational  Church;  Reverend  Ed 
ward  A.  Horton,  and  Doctor  E.  Winches 
ter  Donald,  the  successor  of  Phillips 
Brooks,  are  some  other  Boston  clergymen 
who  have  made  valuable  contributions  to 
literature. 

There  are  many  poems  in  our  language 
that  would  not  pass  muster  if  viewed 
purely  as  literary  productions,  but  which 
have  appealed  to  the  hearts  of  hundreds 
of  readers  as  many  classical  poems  could 
not  appeal  to  them.  They  are  the  poems 
of  childhood,  of  boyhood,  of  days  on  the 
old  farm,  and  of  rural  associations.  They 
are  the  poems  that  men  cut  from  news 
papers  and  slip  into  their  pockets,  because 

305 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

something  in  the  homely  rhymes  has  car 
ried  them  back  to  other  scenes  and  other 
days.  They  appeal  to  that  which  is  best 
in  the  human  heart,  and  they  give  men 
better  and  kindlier  views  of  life.  From 
the  New  Hampshire  hills  there  came  to 
Boston,  some  years  ago,  a  writer  of  poems 
that  carried  many  a  man  back  in  imagina 
tion  to  the  hills  and  valleys  of  his  boy 
hood  home.  This  writer  was  Sam  Walter 
Foss,  the  genial  author  of  so  many  poems 
of  New  England  life.  Born  in  Candia, 
New  Hampshire,  in  the  year  1858,  Mr. 
Foss  spent  his  boyhood  days  in  that  best 
and  happiest  of  environment  for  any  boy, 
a  farm.  But  one  need  not  be  told  that 
Sam  Walter  Foss  was  reared  on  a  farm. 
His  poems  give  abundant  proof  of  this 
fact.  None  but  a  farm-bred  boy  could 
write  as  Mr.  Foss  writes  of  rural  scenes 
and  people. 
306 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

After  receiving  a  rural  school  educa 
tion,  Mr.  Foss  went  to  the  high  school  in 
Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  in  the  year 
1877.  He  continued  his  studies  at  Brown 
University,  from  which  institution  he  was 
graduated  in  1882,  his  poetical  talent  hav 
ing  already  become  so  manifest  that  he 
was  made  class  poet. 

After  his  graduation  Mr.  Foss  entered 
upon  the  career  of  a  journalist,  and  he 
became  editor  of  the  Lynn  Saturday 
Union,  a  position  he  filled  for  some  years, 
until  he  came  to  Boston  to  accept  the 
position  of  editor  of  that  once  popular 
periodical,  The  Yankee  Blade,  a  paper 
in  which  the  first  work  of  more  than  one 
successful  writer  has  appeared.  Mr.  Foss 
held  the  position  of  editor  of  The  Yankee 
Blade  for  eight  years,  and  for  the  next 
three  years  he  was  a  free  lance,  contrib 
uting  to  many  magazines  and  papers. 

307 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Jn  1895  Mr.  Foss  became  librarian  of 
the  Somerville  Public  Library,  a  position 
of  unusual  trust  and  importance,  the  Som 
erville  library  being  one  of  the  largest 
and  best  in  any  of  the  suburbs  of  Boston. 
Mr.  Foss  finds  himself  quite  at  home  in 
the  bookish  atmosphere  of  his  new  posi 
tion,  his  only  regret  being  that  his  duties 
absorb  so  much  of  his  time  that  there  is 
little  left  for  the  literary  work  he  would 
like  to  do,  and  that  many  admirers  of  his 
poems  wish  that  he  might  do. 

Mr.  Foss  has  published  four  volumes 
of  poems,  under  the  titles  of  "  Whiffs  from 
Wild  Meadows,"  "  Dreams  in  Home 
spun,"  "  Songs  of  War  and  Peace,"  and 
"  Back  Country  Poems."  All  of  these 
volumes  of  poems  by  Mr.  Foss  have  met 
with  great  favour,  and  they  have  been 
timely  additions  to  the  poetry  of  New 
England  life.  There  is  a  delightful  qual- 
308 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

ity  of  freshness  and  kindliness  of  feeling 
in  the  work  of  Mr.  Foss,  and  one  is  quite 
sure  that  his  poems  are  the  expression  of 
a  true  heart.  They  "  ring  true,"  and  one 
finds  one's  heart  warming  toward  the  au 
thor  after  reading  some  of  his  verses.  Mr. 
Foss  has  been  very  successful  in  the  writ 
ing  of  serious  poetry,  and  he  often  strikes 
a  very  high  note  in  his  patriotic  verse; 
but,  when  all  is  said,  his  friends  enjoy 
none  of  his  work  quite  so  much  as  that 
in  which  he  gives  them  real  "  whiffs  from 
wild  meadows,"  from  clover  fields,  from 
old  orchards,  and  running  brooks.  Mr. 
Foss  is  in  his  happiest  vein  when  he  is 
writing  of  these  things,  for  which  the  city 
dweller  longs  as  the  sailor  longs  for  the 
salt  air  and  the  roar  of  the  sea. 

Writers  of  German  dialect  have  been 
few  in  America,  which  is  to  be  regretted, 
since  the  peculiarities  of  our  German 

309 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

friends  offer  opportunities  for  much  good- 
natured,  humourous  writing.  Among  the 
few  American  writers  who  have  essayed 
the  writing  of  German  dialect,  none  have 
attained  a  higher  degree  of  success  than 
Mr.  Charles  Follen  Adams,  so  well  known 
to  the  reading  public  as  "  Yawcob 
Strauss."  Mr.  Adams  was  born  in  the 
Dorchester  suburb  of  Boston  in  the  year 
1842,  and  all  of  his  life  has  been  spent 
in  Boston  and  in  its  suburbs.  He  is  one 
of  our  American  writers  who  have  at 
tained  a  very  creditable  degree  of  success 
without  the  advantages  of  a  college  edu 
cation.  Indeed,  it  became  necessary  for 
him  to  leave  the  public  schools  when  he 
was  but  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  enter 
a  store  in  Boston.  Five  years  later  Mr. 
Adams  enlisted  in  the  Thirteenth  Regi 
ment,  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  in  re 
sponse  to  the  special  and  urgent  call  for 
310 


CHAULES    FOLLEN    ADAMS 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

recruits  issued  by  Governor  Andrew.  The 
young  volunteer  saw  active  service  in  the 
great  battles  of  Bull  Run,  Fredericksburg, 
and  Chancellorsville,  and  he  was  among 
the  boys  in  blue  wounded  at  Gettysburg 
in  1863.  He  was  held  as  a  prisoner  until 
the  Federal  troops  again  took  possession 
of  the  town,  when  he  was  taken  to  the 
hospital  in  New  York.  On  his  recovery, 
Mr.  Adams  became  ward-master  in  the 
convalescent  hospital  in  Washington,  re 
taining  this  position  until  the  close  of  the 
war. 

It  was  in  the  year  1872  that  Mr.  Adams 
sent  into  the  world  his  first  German  dia 
lect  poem,  that  was  to  be  the  forerunner 
of  many  similar  poems  to  give  pleasure 
to  so  many  readers.  This  first  venture 
was  entitled  "  The  Puzzled  Dutchman," 
and  it  appeared  in  Our  Young  Folks,  an 
excellent  publication  for  young  people, 

311 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and  one  that  in  later  years  became  merged 
into  St.  Nicholas.  This  first  dialect  poem 
by  the  genial  "  Yawcob  Strauss  "  attracted 
a  great  deal  of  attention  by  reason  of  its 
quaint  humour  and  the  fact  that  the  au 
thor  had  entered  an  almost  unknown  field 
of  dialect  writing.  "  The  Puzzled  Dutch 
man  "  was  widely  copied,  and  there  came 
to  Mr.  Adams  requests  for  other  poems 
in  a  similar  vein,  and  his  poems  began  to 
appear  in  different  periodicals. 

In  June,  of  the  year  1876,  Mr.  Adams's 
most  popular  poem,  entitled  "  Leedle  Yaw- 
cob  Strauss,"  was  published  in  the  Detroit 
Free  Press,  which  was  then  beginning  its 
career  as  one  of  the  brightest  and  best 
humourous  papers  in  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Adams  became  a  regular  contributor 
to  the  Free  Press,  and  nearly  all  of  his 
poems  written  after  the  year  1876  have 
appeared  in  that  paper,  which  soon  be- 
312 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

came  one  of  the  most  widely  quoted  news 
papers  in  America. 

Mr.  Adams  has  not  confined  himself 
entirely  to  poetry,  many  of  his  contribu 
tions  to  the  Free  Press  having  been  written 
in  prose,  but  he  is  never  quite  so  happy 
and  felicitous  in  expression  as  when  he 
confines  himself  to  rhyme.  His  humour 
is  of  the  helpful  and  wholesome  kind  that 
warms  the  heart.  Referring  to  his  work, 
Mr.  Adams  says :  "I  do  not  depend  in 
my  work  wholly  upon  the  grotesqueness 
and  incongruity  of  dialect,  for  my  aim  is 
to  write  a  more  or  less  cheerful  philosophy 
of  life  as  I  see  it.  I  never  force  myself 
to  write  merely  for  the  sake  of  writing, 
and  it  is  only  when  I  have  that  which 
seems  to  me  a  happy  thought  which  lends 
itself  to  expression  in  my  way,  that  I 
write,  no  matter  how  strong  the  induce 
ment  to  do  so  may  be.  I  might  write 

313 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

a  poem  next  week,  and  not  write  another 
for  an  entire  year." 

Mr.  Adams  has  published  two  volumes 
of  his  poems,  and  they  may  be  regarded 
as  among  the  best  illustrations  of  humour 
ous  German  dialect  in  our  American  lit 
erature. 

Mr.  Edward  Payson  Jackson  has  writ 
ten  many  poems  and  a  number  of  success 
ful  books,  among  which  are  "  Character 
Building  "  and  "  A  Demigod."  He  is  a 
resident  of  Dorchester,  where  he  is  vice- 
president  of  the  Colonial  Club  and  editor 
of  The  Bohemian.  He  is  also  president 
of  the  famous  Chickatawbut  Club  of  Bos 
ton  ;  and  in  addition  to  all  his  other  work 
he  writes  many  stories,  essays,  and  poems 
for  many  periodicals.  Mr.  Jackson  was 
born  in  Erzeroum,  Turkey,  March  fif 
teenth,  1840.  His  parents  were  American 
missionaries  in  Turkey.  Edward  came 
314 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

to  the  United  States  in  1845,  and  was 
graduated  in  1863  at  Amherst,  where  he 
was  poet  of  his  class.  During  the  Civil 
War  he  served  in  the  Forty-fifth  and  Fifth 
Regiments,  Massachusetts  Volunteers. 
Since  1877  Mr.  Jackson  has  been  master 
in  the  Boston  Latin  School.  He  has  pub 
lished  "  Mathematical  Geography  "  and 
"  The  Earth  in  Space."  Mr.  Jackson's 
life  has  been  one  of  aspiration  and  achieve 
ment.  He  was  graduated  with  honour 
from  his  college;  he  entered  the  union 
army  as  a  private,  and  was  promoted  to  a 
lieutenancy.  His  novel,  "  A  Demigod," 
was  published  anonymously,  and  was 
variously  attributed  to  other  noted  novel 
ists.  In  1889  the  American  Secular 
Union  offered  a  prize  of  one  thousand 
dollars  for  the  best  essay  adapted  to  aid 
in  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the  purest 
principles  of  morality,  without  inculcat- 

315 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ing  religious  doctrine,  and  in  1891  this 
prize  was  equally  divided  between  Mr. 
Jackson,  for  a  work  entitled  "  Character 
Building:  A  Master's  Talks  with  His  Pu 
pils,"  and  Nicholas  P.  Oilman,  for  a  work 
entitled  "The  Laws  of  Daily  Conduct" 


316 


CHAPTER   XV. 

J.  L.  HARBOUR,  JAMES  BUCKHAM,  OSCAR 
FAY  ADAMS,  ASHTON  R.  WILLARD, 
CHARLES  FELTON  PIDGIN,  AND  WILLIS 
BOYD  ALLEN 

rHE  man  who  adds  to  the  gift  of 
telling  a  story  well  an  unbounded 
capacity  for  seeing  and  setting 
forth  the  funny  side  of  life  is  sure  to 
create  a  special  niche  of  popularity  for 
himself.  This  is  the  reason  that  the  name 
J.  L.  Harbour  has  so  wide  a  recognition, 
and  that  his  stories  are  not  only  eagerly 
read,  but  are  repeated  in  the  home  circle, 
at  after-dinner  tables,  and  on  the  elocu 
tionist's  platform.  Mr.  Harbour  has  a 

317 


LITEKARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

wonderful  stock  of  cheerfulness,  backed 
up  by  an  unusually  keen  sense  of  the 
ridiculous,  qualities  which  make  him,  not 
only  an  excellent  companion,  but  which 
won  almost  instant  recognition  when  he 
began  to  write. 

Mr.  Harbour  was  born  forty-five  years 
ago,  in  Oskaloosa,  Iowa,  and  was  brought 
up  on  a  farm,  where  he  laid  the  founda 
tions  of  that  robust  health  and  untiring 
perseverance  which  have,  perhaps,  been 
his  best  friends  in  literary  work.  While 
he  was  a  boy,  working  on  the  farm,  he 
became  imbued  with  a  desire  to  write 
stories,  and  his  earliest  efforts  were  sent 
to  the  Youth's  Companion  when  Hezekiah 
Butterworth  was  its  editor-in-chief.  Crude 
as  these  stories  were,  Mr.  Butterworth 
recognised  in  them  the  ability  of  genius, 
and,  although  he  did  not  accept  the  prof 
fered  manuscript,  he  took  time  from  his 
318 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

own  crowded  hours  to  write  encouraging 
words  to  the  aspiring  Iowa  youth.  Per 
haps  no  editor  in  the  world  has  done  more 
to  bring  out  young  authors,  and  to  recog 
nise  literary  ability  in  the  rough,  than 
Hezekiah  Butterworth;  and  where  the 
average  editor  would  return  such  manu 
scripts  with  the  usual  formula,  more  or 
less  politely  worded,  Mr.  Butterworth  has 
given  hours  upon  hours  of  time,  that  rep 
resented  distinct  money  value  to  himself, 
to  the  encouragement  and  assistance  of 
venturesome  young  writers.  Mr.  Harbour 
has  certainly  justified  all  expectations, 
for,  in  addition  to  a  juvenile  book,  he  has 
written  over  six  hundred  short  stories,  the 
majority  of  them  for  the  Youth's  Com 
panion.  He  first  took  Mr.  Greeley's  ad 
vice  and  went  West,  where  he  taught 
school  in  Leadville,  Colorado,  later  drift 
ing  to  Denver,  and  becoming  connected 

319 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

with  a  daily  paper.  After  a  few  years 
of  newspaper  life,  Mr.  Harbour  had  won 
such  gratifying  recognition  in  the  East 
that  he  received  two  flattering  offers  on 
the  same  day  to  become  connected  with 
Eastern  papers.  The  Outlook,  of  New 
York,  and  the  Youth's  Companion  were 
both  eager  to  secure  him,  and  he  decided 
at  once  upon  the  latter.  That  he  made 
no  mistake  in  his  choice  is  evident  from 
the  fact  that  he  has  remained  on  the  edi 
torial  force  of  the  Youth's  Companion  for 
more  than  fifteen  years.  He  has  also 
written  largely  for  the  Detroit  Free  Press 
and  for  New  York  papers,  his  work  being 
in  such  demand  that  he  seldom  beholds 
in  these  days  one  of  those  beautifully 
worded  and  printed  circulars,  meant  by 
kind-hearted  editors  to  mitigate  the  woe 
of  an  author  who  sees  his  literary  wares 
coming  back  to  him  from  their  ambitious 
320 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

flights.  Mr.  Harbour  is  married,  and  has 
a  beautiful  home  on  Mount  Bowdoin, 
Dorchester,  where  three  unusually  prom 
ising  boys  and  a  beautiful  girl  are  fast 
coming  up  into  young  manhood  and 
womanhood. 

Mr.  Harbour  has  recently  entered  the 
lecture  field  with  gratifying  success,  his 
keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous  making  his 
talk  on  "  Blessed  Be  Humour "  greatly 
in  demand.  It  is  related  that,  in  response 
to  a  call  from  Waterville,  Maine,  Mr.  Har 
bour  gave  this  talk,  which  teems  with 
witty  anecdotes  and  laughter-provoking 
reminiscences.  On  the  platform  with  Mr. 
Harbour  sat  the  president  of  Colby  Uni 
versity,  and  after  the  lecture  was  over  he 
told  this  story: 

"  In  the  audience  sat  a  man  whom  I 
have  watched  at  public  gatherings  for 
many  years,  and  had  never  yet  seen  a 

321 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

smile  on  his  countenance.  I  had  often 
wondered  if  any  power  on  earth  could 
make  him  laugh,  and  when  I  saw  that 
the  lecture  was  rich  in  funny  stories,  -I 
determined  to  watch  that  particular  man. 
He  sat  like  a  graven  image  through  the 
first  half  of  the  talk,  and  I  had  become 
convinced  that  laughter  was  an  impossi 
bility  to  him,  when  Mr.  Harbour  told  a 
story  which  completely  convulsed  the  au 
dience.  Then  the  icy  reserve  which  I  had 
noted  for  so  many  years  gave  way,  the 
flood-gates  opened,  and  a  tide  of  laughter 
convulsed  the  man.  He  shook  with  uncon 
trollable  mirth  all  the  rest  of  the  evening. 
Mr.  Harbour  had  done  what  had  not  been 
accomplished  before  in  years,  —  he  had 
made  that  man  laugh." 

Several  other  men  on  the  Youth's  Com 
panion  have  written  books,  the  managing 
editor,  Edward  Stanwood,  being  an  author 
322 


LITERARY    BOSTOX    OF    TO-DAY 

of  some  note.  Arthur  Stanwood  Pier,  one 
of  the  assistant  editors,  has  written  "  The 
Pedagogues "  and  "  A  Sentimentalist," 
both  novels  enjoying  a  decided  popularity. 
Walter  Leon  Sawyer,  another  assistant 
editor  of  the  Companion,  has  written  two 
or  three  books  in  addition  to  his  regular 
work. 

It  would  be  strange  if  so  scholarly  a 
man  as  the  president  of  Vermont  Univer 
sity  should  not  contribute  at  least  one  son 
to  literature;  and  this  he  has  done  by 
giving  to  Boston  his  oldest  one,  James 
Buckham,  who  was  born  at  Burlington  in 
1858.  He  grew  up  in  a  literary  atmos 
phere,  and  enjoyed  the  best  society  of  that 
good  old  college  town  until  his  graduation 
from  Vermont  University  in  1881,  when 
he  took  post-graduate  courses  at  Johns 
Hopkins,  following  a  period  of  study  at 
Andover  Theological  Seminary.  His  early 

323 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

ministerial  ambitions,  however,  gave  way 
to  a  decided  talent  for  literature  when  his 
poems  began  to  be  accepted  by  the  leading 
periodicals,  and  he  came  to  Boston  in  the 
eighties,  becoming  connected  for  a  time 
with  the  Youth's  Companion,  and  contrib 
uting  much  to  magazines  and  other  period 
icals.  He  has  had  published  a  volume  of 
verse,  "  The  Heart  of  Life,"  which  has 
been  very  well  received  both  by  critics  and 
the  purchasing  public,  and  another  collec 
tion  of  poems  is  well  on  its  way.  Mr. 
Buckham  married  a  beautiful  daughter  of 
Vermont,  and  they  have  a  charming  home 
in  Melrose,  where  Mr.  Buckham  works 
every  day  in  a  cosy  den,  facing  on  one 
side  a  pine  grove  and  on  the  other  a  great 
ledge  of  rocks,  which  keep  in  mind  the 
rugged  strength  of  his  native  Vermont 
hills. 

Another  young  poet  in  Boston,  of  whom 
324 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

excellent  things  are  predicted,  is  Frederic 
Lawrence  Knowles,  who  has  acted  as  lit 
erary  adviser  of  several  publishing  houses, 
and  has  held  an  editorial  position  on  the 
Atlantic  Monthly  for  a  time.  His  first 
volume  of  original  verse,  "  On  Life's 
Stairway,"  has  been  warmly  received,  and 
"  A  Kipling  Primer  "  had  quite  a  vogue 
in  America  and  was  republished  in  Eng 
land. 

Although  not  so  famous  as  his  brother, 
Paul  Leicester  Ford,  Worthington  C. 
Ford,  the  economist  and  statistician,  has 
made  a  name  for  himself  as  a  writer  of 
books  on  historical  and  political  subjects. 
Mr.  Ford  is  connected  with  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  and  lives  with  his  wife 
in  a  delightful  Boston  home. 

One  of  the  most  important  and  inter 
esting  contributions  to  the  biographical 
books  of  recent  years  was  the  work  of  a 

325 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Boston  writer,  Mr.  Oscar  Fay  Adams,  to 
whom  the  literary  world  is  indebted  for 
his  book,  "  The  Story  of  Jane  Austen's 
Life."  Jane  Austen  never  had  a  warmer 
admirer  of  her  work  than  Mr.  Adams  has 
been,  and  his  account  of  her  life  gives 
evidence  of  his  keen  insight  into  the  char 
acter  of  Jane  Austen,  and  of  his  apprecia 
tion  of  her  work.  When  "  The  Story  of 
Jane  Austen's  Life  "  came  out,  it  at  once 
made  still  more  secure  the  reputation  Mr. 
Adams  had  made  for  himself  as  a  careful 
and  accomplished  writer.  Mr.  Adams  had 
already  published  a  number  of  books  of 
special  value  and  interest,  among  them 
being  his  "  Hand-Book  of  American  Au 
thors,"  "Through  the  Year  with  the 
Poets,"  "Post-Laureate  Idyls,"  "Dear 
Old  Story-Tellers,"  and  "The  Poet's 
Year."  He  had  also  edited  "Through 
the  Year  with  the  Poets  "  in  twelve  vol- 
326 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

umes,  and  had  done  a  great  deal  of  excep 
tionally  good  miscellaneous  writing.  En 
tering  the  field  of  fiction,  Mr.  Adams  has 
done  excellent  work  in  his  book,  "  The 
Archbishop's  Unguarded  Moment,  and 
Other  Stories,"  a  volume  that  has  caused 
his  friends  to  wish  that  Mr.  Adams  would 
give  more  time  to  the  writing  of  stories. 
"  The  Presumption  of  Sex  "  must  also  be 
added  to  the  list  of  books  this  industrious 
and  versatile  writer  has  produced.  He 
has  also  edited  a  large  number  of  books, 
among  them  being  "  The  Henry  Irving 
Shakespeare." 

Mr.  Adams  is  a  New  Englander  by 
birth,  the  first  years  of  his  life  having  been 
spent  in  Worcester,  and  a  part  of  his  edu 
cation  having  been  received  in  the  public 
and  private  schools  of  Worcester  and  at 
the  Leicester  Academy.  He  is  a  graduate 
of  the  New  Jersey  State  Normal  School, 

327 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

and  has  added  to  his  education  by  a  wide 
range  of  critical  study  and  reading.  This 
is  apparent  in  his  work.  His  home  has  for 
some  years  been  in  Boston,  where  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Authors'  Club  and  of  sev 
eral  other  organisations,  having  for  their 
object  an  increase  of  good-fellowship 
among  literary  workers.  Mr.  Adams  has 
added  lecturing  to  the  work  of  writing, 
his  lectures  on  literature  and.  architecture 
having  been  received  with  the  favour  ac 
corded  his  books. 

One  of  the  newcomers  to  the  ranks  of 
the  writers  in  the  literary  Boston  of  to 
day  is  Mr.  Ashton  Rollins  Willard,  of 
Vermont.  Mr.  Willard  is  a  native  of 
Montpelier,  Vermont,  and  he  has  taken  up 
his  permanent  residence  in  Boston,  hav 
ing  recently  purchased  a  house  on  Com 
monwealth  Avenue.  He  has  travelled 
much  abroad,  and  his  home  is  a  veritable 
328 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

treasure-house  of  works  of  art,  in  the  way 
of  paintings,  carvings,  tapestries,  and 
bric-a-brac  from  foreign  lands.  One 
would  know  that  the  artistic  tempera 
ment  predominated  in  Mr.  Willard  the 
moment  one  entered  his  home,  and  one 
is  not  surprised  to  know  that  Mr.  Willard 
is  the  author  of  two  valuable  books  relat 
ing  to  art.  One  of  these  books  is  "  His 
tory  of  Modern  Italian  Art "  and  the 
other  is  "  Life  and  Work  of  Painter  Do- 
menico  Morelli." 

In  addition  to  these  books  Mr.  Willard 
has  been  a  frequent  contributor  to  various 
art  periodicals,  and  he  is  recognised  as  an 
authority  in  matters  pertaining  to  art. 
Mrs.  Willard  is  a  daughter  of  Governor 
Horace  Fairbanks,  of  Vermont,  and  the 
home  of  the  Willards  is  already  noted  for 
its  refined  and  kindly  hospitality. 

Mr.  Charles  Felton  Pidgin,  the  author 

329 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

of  "  Quincy  Adams  Sawyer,"  a  story  of 
New  England  life,  "  Blennerhassett,"  an 
historical  novel  which  deals  with  events 
in  the  career  of  Aaron  Burr,  and 
"  Stephen  Holton,"  takes  his  literary  work 
as  a  sort  of  recreation  in  the  intervals  of 
his  real  work  in  the  Massachusetts  Bureau 
of  Statistics  of  Labour,  where  he  is  the 
chief  clerk.  He  was  appointed  to  the 
position,  in  1876,  by  Colonel  Carroll  D. 
Wright,  having  for  three  years  previously 
been  secretary  of  the  Bureau. 

During  his  connection  with  the  Bureau, 
his  attention  has  been  largely  devoted  to 
the  invention  of  machines  for  the  mechan 
ical  tabulation  of  statistics.  These  ma 
chines  were  invented  to  improve  the 
efficiency  of  the  office,  but  he  has  never 
asked  nor  received  any  compensation  from 
the  State  for  them.  The  census  of  1875 
was  tabulated  upon  a  series  of  self-count- 
330 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ing  tally-sheets,  devised  by  him.  In  1882 
he  first  introduced  an  adding  machine  in 
census  work,  and  in  1883  he  invented  the 
electrical  adding  and  multiplying  ma 
chine,  which  has  been  in  constant  use  in 
the  Bureau  up  to  the  present  time.  The 
State  census  of  1885  was  the  first  in  which 
punched  cards  were  ever  used,  and  a  spe 
cial  machine  was  invented  for  their  tab 
ulation.  His  leisure  time  has  been 
devoted  to  literary  pursuits.  He  has 
written  the  words  of  many  of  the  popu 
lar  songs,  the  libretto  of  a  cantata,  and 
two  comic  operas,  has  contributed  stories 
and  poems  to  the  magazines,  and  special 
articles  to  the  newspapers,  has  written 
several  musical  comedies,  and  the  three 
novels  already  mentioned. 

Besides  this,  during  the  twenty-eight 
years  in  which  he  has  been  engaged  in 
statistical  work,  he  has  written  many 

331 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

articles  for  the  press  upon  statistical  sub 
jects,  and  in  1888  published  the  only 
work  of  its  kind  ever  written,  entitled 
"  Practical  Statistics,  or  the  Statistician 
at  Work."  In  addition  to  this  tremendous 
amount  of  work,  he  has  lectured  upon 
statistical  subjects  before  the  American 
Statistical  Association,  the  Institute  of 
Technology,  and  many  scientific  societies. 

Mr.  Pidgin  was  born  in  Roxbury  on  the 
eleventh  of  November,  1844,  and  obtained 
his  education  in  the  Boston  public  schools. 

When  a  man,  still  young,  has  to  his 
credit  a  list  of  thirty-five  books  written 
by  himself,  it  is  convincing  proof  of  great 
industry  and  singleness  of  purpose.  Mr. 
Willis  Boyd  Allen  might  say  of  his  book- 
writing  :  "  This  one  thing  I  do."  Eschew 
ing  society  and  all  else  that  wastes  time 
without  profit,  Mr.  Allen  has  for  years 
devoted  himself  with  untiring  devotion  to 
332 


LITERARY    BOSTOX    OF    TO-DAY 

the  writing  of  his  books,  most  of  which 
have  been  designed  for  young  readers. 
Many  boys  and  girls  have  found  pleasure 
in  Mr.  Allen's  work,  which  appeals  to  the 
young,  because  the  author  has  put  into 
his  work  so  much  of  the  memory  of  his 
own  boyhood,  and  because  his  sympathies 
are  evidently  with  the  young.  It  is  cer 
tain  that  Mr.  Allen  has  lived  over  his  own 
childhood  in  the  writing  of  his  books,  and 
he  has  fancied  himself  a  boy  with  the  boys 
about  whom  he  writes. 

Mr.  Allen  was  born  at  Kittery  Point, 
Maine,  on  the  ninth  of  July,  in  the  year 
1855.  He  is  the  only  son  of  the  late  Still- 
man  B.  Allen,  one  of  Boston's  most  noted 
lawyers  and  a  man  prominent  in  many 
things  having  for  their  ultimate  object 
the  growing  good  of  the  world.  His  son, 
Willis,  graduated  from  Harvard  College 
in  the  year  1878,  and  has  been  engaged 

333 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

in  literary  work  since  that  time.  He  has 
done  some  editorial  work,  but  in  recent 
years  his  time  has  been  given  entirely  to 
the  writing  of  books,  when  he  was  not 
travelling.  Mr.  Allen  has  had  unusual 
opportunities  of  travel,  having  been  abroad 
several  times,  and  having  visited  about 
every  part  of  his  native  land.  He  has 
explored  Alaska,  where  he  found  the  ma 
terial  for  one  of  his  most  popular  books, 
entitled  "  The  Red  Mountain -of  Alaska." 
His  "  Pine  Cones "  series  of  books  has 
delighted  many  young  readers,  who  have 
also  found  great  pleasure  in  reading  his 
"  Navy  Blue,"  "  Silver  Rags,"  and  "  The 
Mammoth  Hunters."  His  book  of  verse 
entitled  "  In  the  Morning  "  has  in  it  some 
charming  lines.  Mr.  Allen  has  written 
a  great  many  short  stories  and  poems  for 
magazines  and  periodicals,  but  he  is  never 
more  successful  than  when  he  is  writing 
334 


LITEKARY    BOSTOiY    OF    TO-DAY 

for  the  young.  His  stories  are  told  in  a 
delightfully  unaffected  way,  and  they  are, 
moreover,  safe  books  for  young  readers. 
So  many  unsafe  books  for  the  young  are 
being  written  in  the  present  day  that  a 
man  who  can  write  such  safe  and  at  the 
same  time  such  entertaining  books  as  those 
written  by  Mr.  Willis  Boyd  Allen  is  doing 
good  service  for  the  youth  of  the  land, 
and  making  valuable  and  needful  contri 
butions  to  our  American  literature. 

Mr.  Allen's  home  is  noted  as  one  of  the 
most  delightfully  hospitable  homes  in  the 
city  of  Boston,  and  few  homes  in  the  city 
have  received  as  guests  so  many  men  and 
women  prominent  in  the  literary,  musical, 
artistic,  educational,  and  philanthropic 
world.  Mr.  Allen  is  unmarried,  and  his 
mother  and  sister  are  the  hostesses  of  the 
home  in  which  many  young  writers  un 
known  to  fame  have  received  a  kindly  and 

335 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

cordial  welcome  that  has  warmed  their 
hearts,  and  they  have  taken  away  memo 
ries  that  have  cheered  and  stimulated  them 
for  days  to  come. 


336 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

KATE  SANBORN,  ALICE  FREEMAN  PALMER, 
MARY  E.  BLAKE,  SOPHIE  SWETT,  FLOR 
ENCE  CONVERSE,  ANNA  FARQUHAR,  LIL 
IAN  WHITING,  AND  KATHARINE  E. 
CONWAY 

/T  is  worth  much  to  have  contributed 
to  the  world  books  that  have  cheered 
and  brightened  the  lives  of  those  who 
have  read  them,   books  that  have  added 
to  the  needed  cheerfulness  of  the  world, 
and  that  have  helped  men  and  women  to 
fight  the  battle  of  life  with  lighter  hearts. 
Miss   Kate   Sanborn   has   done   this,   not 
only  in  her  books,  but  in  her  lecturing 
days,  when  she  was  one  of  the  most  pop- 

387 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ular  women  speakers  on  the  American 
lecture  platform.  The  bracing  and  uplift 
ing  gospel  of  good  cheer  is  the  gospel 
Miss  Sanborn  has  been  preaching  for 
many  years,  and  it  is  this  that  has  made 
her  life  one  of  helpfulness  to  others. 
Cheerfulness,  combined  with  an  unfailing 
sense  of  humour,  have  been  predominant 
characteristics  of  all  of  Miss  Sanborn's 
work.  She  would  have  her  readers  laugh 
more  heartily  that  they  may  live  more 
happily.  She  has  brought  to  her  work  a 
clear  insight  into  the  foibles  of  human 
natures,  combined  with  so  much  kindly 
sympathy  and  forbearance,  that  her  sharp 
est  thrusts  leave  very  little  sting.  She 
has  demonstrated  the  fact  that  women 
have  both  wit  and  humour,  and  that  they 
know  how  to  use  both  to  advantage.  Miss 
Sanborn's  windows  have  always  been 
"  open  toward  Jerusalem."  Her  outlook 
338 


KATE    SANBORN 


LITEBARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

on  life  has  been  serene  and  kindly,  and 
good  humour  and  magnanimity  are  to  be 
found  in  all  of  her  books. 

Miss  Sanborn  is  of  New  England  birth, 
having  been  born  in  Hanover,  New  Hamp 
shire,  in  July  of  the  year  1839.  Her 
father  was  Edwin  D.  Sanborn,  one  of  the 
best  known  professors  of  Dartmouth  Col 
lege,  and  her  great-grandfather  on  her 
mother's  side  was  Ezekiel  Webster,  a 
brother  of  Daniel  Webster.  Miss  San 
born  was  but  eleven  years  of  age  when 
she  earned  her  first  money  with  her  pen, 
and  from  her  seventeenth  year  she  was 
able  to  support  herself.  When  still  a 
young  girl,  Miss  Sanborn  combined  her 
literary  work  with  teaching,  and  she  be 
came  a  teacher  in  Mary  Institute  in  St. 
Louis.  Later  she  became  a  teacher  in  a 
day  school  in  her  native  town  of  Hanover, 
and  from  here  she  went  to  Brooklyn,  New 

339 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

York,  to  become  a  teacher  of  elocution  in 
Packer  Institute.  Her  most  important 
work  as  a  teacher  was  done,  however, 
during  the  five  or  six  years  that  she  held 
the  position  of  professor  of  literature  in 
Smith  College. 

Later  in  life  Miss  Sanborn  relinquished 
the  work  of  teaching,  that  she  might  give 
her  time  entirely  to  writing  and  to  lec 
turing.  Her  lectures  comprised  a  great 
variety  of  topics,  all  of  which  she  pre 
sented  in  a  way  that  gave  great  pleasures 
to  large  audiences  in  nearly  every  large 
town  and  city  in  the  East.  Her  lectures, 
entitled  "  Are  Women  Witty  ?  "  "  Chris 
topher  North  and  His  Friends,"  and 
"  Our  Early  Newspaper  Wits,"  were  par 
ticularly  popular,  and  there  was  general 
regret  when  Miss  Sanborn  left  the  lecture 
platform  for  the  more  restful  and  con 
genial  work  of  writing  books,  literary  re- 
340 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

views,  and  a  variety  of  miscellaneous 
works. 

Miss  Sanborn's  books  include  "  Home 
Pictures  of  English  Poets,"  "  Vanity  and 
Insanity,"  "  Shadows  of  Genius,"  "Adopt 
ing  an  Abandoned  Farm,"  "  Abandoning 
an  Adopted  Farm,"  ;'  The  Wit  of  Women," 
"Favourite  Lectures,"  "Round  Table 
Series  of  Literary  Lessons,"  "  A  Truthful 
Woman  in  Southern  California,"  "  My 
Literary  Zoo,"  "  Purple  and  Gold,"  and 
"Grandmother's  Garden,"  "Sunshine  Cal 
endar,"  "  Rainbow  Calendar,"  "  Starlight 
Calendar,"  and  others. 

Miss  Sanborn  has  demonstrated  the  fact 
that  it  is  possible  for  a  woman  to  combine 
a  literary  with  a  practical  turn  of  mind. 
She  is  herself  a  woman  of  affairs,  having 
for  some  years  carried  forward  with  grati 
fying  success  a  large  farm,  on  which  she 

341 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

now  lives,  in  Metcalf,  about  thirty  miles 
from  Boston. 

Her  exceedingly  popular  book,  "  Adopt 
ing  an  Abandoned  Farm,"  is  the  story  of 
Miss  Sanborn's  experiment  in  taking  an 
old  New  England  farm  and  restoring  it 
to  its  original  fertility  and  usefulness. 
The  story  of  how  this  was  done  overflows 
with  the  author's  irrepressible  humour, 
even  her  failures  affording  her  great 
amusement.  A  few  years  ago  Miss  San- 
born  "  abandoned "  the  farm  she  had 
"  adopted,"  and  purchased  a  farm  quite 
near  the  one  on  which  she  had  been  liv 
ing.  This  gave  rise  to  her  merry  book, 
"  Abandoning  an  Adopted  Farm,"  which, 
in  point  of  drollery  and  cleverness,  quite 
equals  any  of  Miss  Sanborn's  other  books. 

Miss  Sanborn's  hospitality  is  prover 
bial,  and  it  suggests  Washington  Irving's 
lines :  "  There  is  an  emanation  from  the 
342 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

heart  in  genuine  hospitality  which  cannot 
be  described,  but  is  immediately  felt,  and 
puts  the  stranger  at  once  at  his  ease." 

It  is  this  delightful  kind  of  hospitality 
that  characterises  the  quaint  and  charming 
home  of  Miss  Sanborn  at  "  Breezy;  Mead 
ows,"  which  is  the  fanciful  and  appro 
priate  name  Miss  Sanborn  has  given  to 
her  farm.  Here  one  finds  that  good  cheer 
and  open-handed  hospitality  that  has  de 
parted  from  too  many  of  our  modern 
American  homes.  The  farmhouse,  almost 
if  not  really  a  century  old,  has  been  trans 
formed  into  the  most  restful  and  comfort 
able  of  homes,  "  Don't  Worry  "  being  the 
motto  of  the  house.  Here,  with  her  books 
almost  without  number,  her  periodicals  of 
all  kinds,  her  dogs,  house  plants,  easy- 
chairs,  open  fires,  and  her  chosen  friends 
to  visit  her,  lives  one  of  our  most  popular 
and  most  successful  authors,  whose  chief 

348 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

delight  is  in  sharing  her  success  and  her 
pleasures  with  others.  Here  Miss  San- 
born  has  entertained  many  distinguished 
men  and  women;  here  she  has  given  en 
couragement  and  help  to  many  struggling 
young  writers,  and  her  warmest  welcome 
has  often  been  for  those  in  the  humble 
walks  of  life. 

While  Mrs.  Alice  Freeman  Palmer 
undoubtedly  belongs  rather  to  the  educa 
tional  fraternity  than  to  the  purely  lit 
erary,  she  is,  nevertheless,  by  virtue  of 
her  valuable  monographs  on  education,  on 
college  work  for  girls,  and  other  matter, 
an  honoured  member  of  the  band  which 
makes  the  literary  Boston  of  to-day. 

Alice  Freeman  was  born  in  1855  in 
southern  New  York,  where  she  remained 
until  she  was  sixteen  years  of  age.  She 
was  a  bright,  active  child,  giving  early 
promise  of  her  future  brilliancy,  loving 
344 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

learning  for  learning's  sake,  and  deter 
mined  to  have  a  thorough  education.  She 
was  a  sunny,  happy  child,  loving  out-of- 
door  life,  and  entering  into  all  childish 
good  times  with  the  same  energy  and  en 
thusiasm  that  she  showed  for  her  books. 
Her  father  was  a  physician,  and  he  kept 
a  sharp  lookout  over  this  active  little  girl, 
taking  good  care  that  her  brain  did  not 
get  the  upper  hand  of  her  body  and  over 
come  it;  and  her  wise  mother  carried  out 
all  the  father's  ideas,  so  that  between  the 
two  she  came  up  to  young  woman's  estate 
with  a  well-balanced  mind,  a  healthful 
body,  and  a  fund  of  common  sensible  ideas 
regarding  life  that  have  stood  her  in  good 
stead.  This  early  training  of  her  own  has 
helped  her  very  much  in  her  intercourse 
with  girls,  and  has  taught  her  wisdom  in 
her  management  of  them. 

At  sixteen  she  was  ready  for  college. 

345 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

But  not  so  many  were  open  to  women  as 
there  are  now,  notwithstanding  it  is  but 
so  comparatively  short  a  time  ago.  Vas- 
sar  had  just  made  a  beginning,  but  neither 
Smith  nor  Wellesley  were  thought  of,  and 
Radcliffe  had  no  existence,  even  in  the 
wildest  dream.  The  Western  colleges, 
which  seemed  to  be  the  first  to  catch  the 
spirit  of  the  hour  and  to  recognise  and 
comprehend  the  full  meaning  of  the  educa 
tional  movement,  had  hospitably  opened 
their  doors  and  bade  young  women  wel 
come. 

Among  these  colleges,  which  thus  early 
showed  the  generous  spirit,  was  Michigan 
University,  and  thither  Alice  Freeman 
went,  becoming  a  freshman  before  she 
had  attained  her  seventeenth  birthday. 
The  going  away  of  the  young  daughter 
of  the  house  proved  the  signal  for  the 
entire  family  to  go,  too.  None  of  them 
346 


LITERACY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

liked  the  separation,  so  a  new  home  was 
made  in  Michigan  near  the  young  student. 
At  that  time  Miss  Freeman  looked  for 
ward  to  a  permanent  home  in  the  West, 
and  to  the  teacher's  career  for  herself. 
She  made  a  signal  success  as  a  student, 
and  graduated  as  A.  B.  with  honours  in 
1876,  before  her  twentieth  birthday. 

She  entered  at  once  upon  her  chosen 
profession,  beginning  her  work  by  teach 
ing  the  classics  in  the  Geneva  Lake  Sem 
inary  in  Wisconsin,  studying  in  the 
meanwhile  for  the  degree  of  M.  A.,  which 
she  took  at  Michigan  University  in  the 
summer  of  1877.  The  faculty  wished 
that  she  should  be  identified  in  her  teach 
ing  with  the  university,  so  she  decided 
not  to  return  to  the  school  where  she  had 
been  engaged  during  the  previous  year, 
but  went  instead  to  Saginaw,  Michigan, 

347 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

where  she  devoted  herself  to  fitting  stu 
dents  for  the  university. 

In  the  meantime  Wellesley  had  been 
built  and  opened,  in  1875,  and  in  1879 
Miss  Freeman  was  elected  professor  of 
history  in  the  new  college.  Here  was  a 
complete  revolution  of  all  her  plans.  She 
had  thought  to  stay  in  the  West,  and  it 
seemed  hard  to  go  so  far  away. 

But  here  was  a  work  which  sadly  needed 
workers,  and  the  best  ones,  too;  and  this 
work  in  a  girls'  college  appealed  strongly 
to  the  young  teacher.  She  had,  even  then, 
so  identified  herself  with  the  work  of  the 
higher  education  for  young  women  that 
she  greeted  every  advance  step  with  a  per 
sonal  delight.  So  it  is  little  wonder  that 
the  autumn  of  1879,  three  years  from  her 
graduation,  found  her  occupying  the  chair 
of  history  at  Wellesley. 

She  had  hardly  entered  the  college  be- 
348 


LITERARY    BOSTOX    OF    TO-DAY 

fore  her  influence  was  felt ;  she  gave  a  new 
impetus  to  the  work,  and  all  the  girls  who 
came  under  her  instruction  imbibed  her 
ideas  regarding  the  college  life  and  work. 
So  well  did  she  fulfil  her  duties,  in  fact, 
that  in  June,  1882,  just  ten  years  from 
the  time  she  entered  Michigan  University, 
a  girl  of  sixteen,  she  was  president  of 
Wellesley  College.  The  standard  was  at 
once  raised,  and  the  years  in  which  Alice 
Freeman  stood  at  the  head  saw  a  growth 
and  development  that  was  amazing.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  college  took  uni 
versity  rank,  and  was  always  mentioned 
in  the  list  of  first-class  educational  insti 
tutions. 

In  June,  1883,  just  one  year  after  her 
election  to  the  presidency  of  the  college, 
Michigan  University  conferred  upon  her 
the  degree  of  Ph.  D.,  and  in  1887  Colum 
bia  University  honoured  itself  by  giving 

349 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

her  the  degree  of  Litt.  D.  The  loss  to 
Wellesley,  occasioned  by  Miss  Freeman's 
resignation  in  January,  1888,  to  become 
the  wife  of  Professor  G.  H.  Palmer,  of 
Harvard  University,  was  regretted  by 
every  one  connected  with  the  college. 

Since  that  time  she  has  been  busy  with 
voice  and  pen,  and  the  home  in  the  college 
green  at  Harvard  is  the  resort  of  the  lit 
erary  men  and  women  of  Cambridge,  who 
also  belong  to  the  literary  Boston  of  to-day. 

Since  her  marriage  Mrs.  Palmer  has 
been  much  in  Europe,  and  she  has  made 
a  study  of  the  opportunities  and  methods 
of  education,  especially  for  girls,  in  the 
older  countries,  coming  back  to  her  own, 
glad  in  the  superior  advantages  which  the 
girl  of  America  finds.  She  is  extremely 
practical  in  her  ideas,  is  not  carried  away 
by  theory,  and  applies  the  test  of  common 
sense  to  every  question  which  comes  to  her 
350 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

to  solve.  She  is  calm  and  dispassionate 
in  judgment,  executive  in  methods,  and 
safe  in  her  conclusions,  altogether  a  large- 
minded,  all-around  woman,  whom  it  is  a 
delight  to  honour.  She  is  a  valued  mem 
ber  of  the  Boston  Authors'  Club,  and, 
although  extremely  modest  about  her  lit 
erary  work,  she  wields  the  pen  as  well 
as  she  does  everything  else. 

One  of  the  first  of  the  books  treating 
of  modern  Mexico  was  that  written  by 
Mary  E.  Blake  in  collaboration  with 
Margaret  Sullivan,  giving  us  delightful 
pictures,  "  Mexico,  Picturesque  and  Po 
litical."  A  dozen  books  are  credited  to 
Mrs.  Blake,  five  of  which  are  volumes 
of  verse.  Mrs.  Blake's  name  is  often  seen 
in  popular  periodicals  on  the  title-page, 
and  her  critical  essays  show  a  wide  schol 
arship,  combined  with  a  keen  perception 
of  the  values  of  things  in  general.  Mrs. 

351 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Blake  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1840,  but 
came  to  Massachusetts  while  a  child,  and 
was  educated  here.  She  married  Doctor 
John  G.  Blake,  a  noted  specialist  of  Bos 
ton,  and  is  the  proud  mother  of  five  sons, 
all  graduates  of  Harvard,  and  a  daughter 
who  has  a  Radcliffe  A.  B.  added  to  her 
name.  The  Blakes  live  in  a  beautiful 
home  on  Beacon  Street,  and  mix  with  the 
best  literary  sets  of  the  old  Puritan  town. 
Young  people  everywhere  adore  the 
name  of  Sophie  Swett.  Few  literary 
people,  even  in  Boston,  are  aware  that  this 
is  the  real  name  of  a  lady  who  lives  at 
Arlington  Heights,  and  is  in  and  out  of 
the  city  with  the  frequency  of  any  ordi 
nary  suburban  dweller.  With  her  lives 
her  sister,  Susan  Hartley  Swett,  who  is 
also  well  known  as  a  writer  for  the  lead 
ing  magazines,  and  the  author  of  at  least 
one  successful  book.  The  sisters  were 
352 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

born  in  Brewer,  Maine,  but  educated  in 
public  and  private  schools  in  Boston. 
Sophie  Swett  was  for  a  time  associate 
editor  of  Wide  Awake,  when  Mr.  Elbridge 
Brooks  was  editor-in-chief.  The  child  of 
to-day,  who  has  not  read  some  one  or  more 
of  Sophie  Swett's  round  dozen  of  excel 
lent  juvenile  stories,  is  rare  indeed. 

The  work  of  Denison  House,  in  Bos 
ton,  a  college  settlement  on  Tyler  Street,  is 
familiar  to  all  who  are  interested  in  the 
problems  of  social  reform.  For  four  years 
Denison  House  has  been  the  home  of  Flor 
ence  Converse,  a  name  that  is  beginning 
to  be  known  in  literature.  She  was  born 
in  New  Orleans  in  1871,  and  graduated 
at  Wellesley  in  1893.  Miss  Converse  has 
been  on  the  editorial  staff  of  the  Church 
man  since  January,  1900,  and  is  the  au 
thor  of  two  successful  novels,  "  Diana 
Victrix"  and  "The  Burden  of  Chris- 

353 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

topher,"  both  of  which  have  enjoyed  con 
siderable  of   a  popularity. 

When  "  Her  Boston  Experiences  "  was 
first  published  in  book  form,  it  created 
a  good  deal  of  a  sensation,  and  the  author 
ship  was  attributed  to  various  prominent 
writers.  The  woman  who  actually  wrote 
it,  however,  was  a  Boston  journalist  con 
nected  with  the  National  Magazine,  and 
more  or  less  well  known  in  Boston  as  Anna 
Farquhar.  Miss  Farquhar  was  born  in 
Indiana,  educated  in  Maryland,  studied 
music  in  New  York  and  in  England,  and 
then  came  to  settle  in  Boston,  where  she 
married  a  talented  journalist,  Ralph  Ber- 
gengren.  "  Her  Boston  Experiences  " 
was  by  no  means  her  first  book,  for 
she  had  already  published  "  A  Singer's 
Heart,"  the  "  Inner  Experiences  of  a 
Cabinet  Officer's  Wife,"  and  "  The  Pro 
fessor's  Daughter,"  all  of  which  have  been 
354 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

well  received.  It  was  the  frank  and 
trenchant  comment  on  actual  Boston  life, 
and  the  evident  knowledge  of  it,  that  made 
"  Her  Boston  Experiences "  such  a  suc 
cess.  A  broader  knowledge  of  history, 
however,  and  a  deeper  knowledge  of  the 
world  are  evinced  in  her  latest  book,  "  The 
Devil's  Plough."  Mrs.  Bergengren  is  an 
uncommonly  handsome  woman  of  the  Eng 
lish  type,  a  brilliant  conversationalist,  a 
keen  thinker,  and  a  hard  worker.  In  fact, 
she  is  so  devoted  to  her  literary  labours 
that  she  goes  into  society  but  little,  her 
one  ambition  being  to  perfect  herself  in 
her  art. 

If  one  were  to  ask  what  was  the  under 
lying  secret  of  Lilian  Whiting's  success  in 
her  chosen  profession  of  letters,  the  ques 
tion  could  best  be  answered  in  her  own 
words : 

"  The  journalist  is  the  sower,  and  the 

355 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

field  is  the  world.  It  is  not  what  one 
gets  out  of  the  work,  but  what  one  puts 
in  that  tells." 

Like  many  another  successful  writer, 
Miss  Whiting  has  come  to  authorship  by 
the  way  of  the  newspaper,  and  she  holds 
her  profession  as  sacred  as  the  conscien 
tious  minister  holds  his. 

Although  Boston  claims  her,  and  al 
though  she  is  an  integral  part  of  its  lit 
erary  life,  known  as  she  is  over  the  entire 
country  as  a  distinctive  authority  on  books 
and  art,  she  was,  nevertheless,  not  Boston 
born,  not  even  New  England  reared. 

She  was  born  at  Niagara  Falls,  but  all 
her  early  life  was  passed  in  Illinois,  where 
she  was  educated.  She  comes  naturally 
to  her  position  as  author,  for  her  mother 
was  a  writer,  and  her  father  an  editor, 
and  later  a  State  senator.  So  it  was  that 
all  her  instincts,  all  her  environment  of 
356 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

early  life,  all  her  training,  led  her  into 
the  field  of  letters. 

She  began  her  life  work  as  a  school 
teacher,  and  even  then  she  was  feeling 
her  way  into  the  profession  for  which  she 
was  destined,  —  writing  stories  and  poems, 
and  getting  them  published  wherever  she 
could. 

Finally,  realising  that  "  nothing  ven 
ture,  nothing  have,"  she  cut  away  from 
the  school  work,  which  she  only  half  liked, 
and  went  to  Cincinnati,  where  she  soon 
found  a  place  under  Murat  Halstead  on 
the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  making  a  dis 
tinct  success  in  her  new  profession. 

But  all  the  time  her  eyes  were  turned 
Bostonward.  There  was  where  she  wanted 
to  be,  and  she  bent  every  energy  to  the 
attainment  of  her  desires.  She  worked 
away  conscientiously  and  busily  on  the 
Commercial  for  a  couple  years,  and 

357 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

once  more  took  matters  into  her  own 
hands,  challenged  fate  by  resigning  her 
position  in  Cincinnati,  and  starting  for 
Boston,  with  no  definite  plans,  but  that 
of  making  a  home  in  the  city  of  her  choice. 
She  had  no  friends  at  court;  she  knew 
no  one,  but  she  had  determination  and 
pluck  and  ability.  All  she  asked  was  a 
chance  to  prove  herself. 

She  applied  for  work  at  the  Boston 
Traveller,  only  to  be  told  very  plainly 
that  they  "  didn't  want  a  woman  in  the 
paper."  Miss  Whiting  is  delicate,  re 
fined,  and  sensitive  to  a  degree,  but  she 
had  plenty  of  the  Western  push,  and  she 
did  not  agree  with  the  Traveller  people. 
She  was  equally  sure  that  they  did  want 
a  woman  there,  only  they  didn't  recognise 
the  want.  It  was  for  her  to  convince  them. 

So  she  asked  them  to  give  her  a  trial, 
adding  that  they  need  not  accept  her  work, 
358 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

nor  pay  her  for  it,  if  they  did  not  like 
it.  The  offer  was  somewhat  unusual,  and, 
though  they  hesitated  over  it  for  awhile, 
they  finally  concluded  to  accept  it. 

The  result  was  only  what  might  be  ex 
pected  when  a  girl,  able  and  ambitious, 
was  so  ready  to  begin  at  the  bottom  round 
of  the  ladder.  The  very  fact  that  she  so 
believed  in  herself  made  those  with  whom 
she  was  associated  believe  in  her  also. 
Everything  she  wrote  and  offered  was  at 
once  accepted.  In  two  weeks  she  was  a 
member  of  the  regular  staff,  with  her  name 
on  the  pay-roll,  which  was  a  most  impor 
tant  thing.  In  two  years  she  was  made 
literary  editor  and  art  critic,  a  position 
which  she  held  for  about  eight  years,  re 
signing  it  to  take  the  editorship  of  the 
Sunday  Budget.  She  remained  in  the 
editorial  chair  until  her  increasing  duties 
of  a  purely  literary  character  became  so 

359 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

overwhelming  that  she  was  obliged  to  give 
up  the  more  exacting  position.  Thus  she 
had  the  leisure  to  do  the  work  which  she 
loved  best,  although  she  has  always  re 
mained  upon  the  staff  of  the  Budget  as 
a  special  writer,  her  department,  "  The 
World  Beautiful,"  being  one  of  the  most 
prominent  in  the  paper. 

During  all  these  years  she  has  been  the 
Boston  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Trib 
une,  the  New  Orleans  Picayune,  and  the 
St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat,  and  it  is 
through  her  letters  that  her  name  is  so 
well  known  throughout  the  country  as  an 
accomplished  writer  on  literature  and  art. 

Her  published  works  consist  of  one  or 
more  volumes  of  verse,  three  series  of 
"  The  World  Beautiful,"  collections  of 
her  Budget  essays,  a  "  Life  of  Kate 
Field,"  whose  intimate  friend  she  was,  a 
"  Study  of  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning," 
360 


LITERACY    BOSTON"    OF    TO-DAY 

and  a  memorial  of  Miss  Field,  "  After 
Her  Death." 

Miss  Whiting's  work  is  noble  in  thought 
and  lofty  in  its  ideals,  and  her  books  will 
stand  the  test  of  time.  She  has  indeed 
proved  herself,  and  justified  her  own  faith 
in  her  powers  to  succeed.  She  lives  at 
the  Hotel  Brunswick,  and  from  there  she 
makes  pilgrimages  to  Europe  or  to  other 
parts  of  her  own  country,  coming  back 
always  to  Boston  as  to  home.  For  it  is 
home  now.  The  Western  home  is  broken 
up  by  the  death  of  her  father  and  mother, 
and  all  her  interest  is  in  the  city  of  her 
adoption. 

Still  another  woman,  who  reached  lit 
erature  through  the  journalistic  road,  is 
Miss  Katharine  Eleanor  Conway.  She  is 
a  recognised  power  in  Boston,  especially 
Catholic  Boston,  by  her  connection  with 
the  Pilot,  and  all  her  work  is  in  the  fullest 

361 


LITEKAEY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

sympathy  and  accord  with  her  religious 
belief.  It  was  she  of  whom  the  late  John 
Boyle  O'Reilly,  her  editor-in-chief  on  the 
Pilot,  said :  "  She  is  a  poet  and  a  logician ; 
she  has  the  heart  of  a  woman  and  the  brain 
of  a  man."  It  was  a  rare  power  which 
O'Reilly  possessed  of  surrounding  himself 
with  able  and  sympathetic  workers.  He 
brought  Miss  Conway  on  to  the  Pilot, 
as  he  had  already  brought  James  Jeffrey 
Roche,  and,  since  his  death,  the  two  to 
gether  have  held  the  paper  up  to  the  stand 
ards  which  their  beloved  chief  established 
for  it,  and  have  carried  on  the  work  as 
he  planned  it.  Two  more  devoted  follow 
ers  no  one  could  have  had,  and  they  took 
the  work  which  dropped  from  his  still 
hands  as  a  sacred  legacy. 

Katharine  Conway  was  born  in  Roches 
ter,  New  York,  of  cultivated  Celtic  par 
ents,  and  she  was  educated  at  the  convent 
362 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

in  that  city.  Very  early  in  life,  while  no 
more  than  a  child,  she  was  filled  with  lit 
erary  ambitions,  and  while  yet  a  young 
girl  she  tried  her  hand  at  work  on  the 
local  dailies  of  her  home  city,  Rochester, 
and  its  neighbour,  Buffalo. 

In  1878  she  assumed  the  duties  of  as 
sistant  editor  of  the  Catholic  Union  and 
Times,  where  she  remained  until  1883, 
when  Mr.  O'Reilly,  who  had  been  watch 
ing  her  career  with  great  interest,  decided 
that  she  was  needed  on  the  Pilot,  and  he 
offered  her  a  similar  position  on  that 
paper  to  the  one  which  she  was  holding 
on  the  Union  and  Times.  Like  her  friend, 
Lilian  Whiting,  she  had  a  strong  desire 
to  go  to  Boston,  the  city  which  seemed  a 
sort  of  literary  Mecca,  and  she  accepted 
the  offer.  She  justified  Mr.  O'Reilly's 
belief  in  her  abilities,  and  she  has  made 
a  place  for  herself  in  the  literary  world 

363 


LITERACY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

of  Boston.  Struggling  against  delicate 
health  and  the  multitudinous  demands  of 
life,  she  has  established  a  name  as  poet, 
critic,  general  writer,  and  novelist.  She 
has  published  several  volumes  of  poems, 
marked  by  a  tender  spirituality  and  up 
lift  and  a  rare  conscientiousness  of  pur 
pose.  Her  songs  sing  themselves,  whether 
set  to  the  minor  key  or  the  full  flood  of 
joyous  harmony.  Those  who  know  them 
love  them,  because  they  are  so  evidently 
from  the  heart. 

In  connection  with  Mrs.  Clara  Erskine 
Clement  Waters  she  has  edited  two  val 
uable  books  on  art.  A  charming  little 
volume,  "  Watchwords  from  John  Boyle 
O'Reilly,"  was  published  soon  after  his 
sad  death,  with  her  name  as  editor.  Some 
of  the  helpful  essays  which  have  appeared 
in  the  Pilot  have  been  gathered  into  book 
form,  and  she  has  written  two  novels,  the 
864 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

latest  of  which,  "  Lalor's  Maples,"  has 
had  a  large  sale. 

Miss  Conway  lives  in  Roxbury,  near 
Egleston  Square,  where  she  has  a  pretty 
house  at  1  Atherton  Place.  Here  she  does 
her  literary  work  in  a  pleasant  room  with 
a  big  bay-window,  where  the  sun  shines 
all  day,  and  which  is  a  refuge  indeed, 
after  her  working  hours  in  her  little  office 
at  the  Pilot,  which  is  as  typical  of  the 
busy  newspaper  worker  as  is  her  cheerful 
room  in  Roxbury  of  the  author. 

A  woman  of  earnest  and  sincere  pur 
pose,  she  carries  into  all  her  work  the 
desire  to  help  and  uplift  humanity.  She 
is  the  personal  friend  of  Archbishop  Will 
iams,  and  was  the  second  woman  to  be 
admitted  to  the  Catholic  Union,  and  prob 
ably  one  of  the  most  prominent  Catholic 
women  of  the  day.  She  has  been  on  the 
Board  of  Prison  Commissioners  of  Massa- 

365 


LITERAEY   BOSTON   OF    TO-DAY 

chusetts,  and  is  full  of  interest  in  the  work 
of  reforming  those  who  have  gone  astray, 
especially  the  unfortunate  women  and 
girls  for  whom  life  has  been  a  tragedy  of 
the  darkest  sort.  A  broad-minded  and 
liberal  woman,  she  belongs,  by  right,  to 
the  world  at  large  through  her  work  for 
humanity  as  well  as  in  literature.  She  is 
the  leader  of  the  John  Boyle  O'Reilly 
Reading  Circle,  one  of  the  largest  organi 
sations  of  young  women  in  Boston.  She 
is  a  member  of  the  Authors'  Club  and 
of  the  New  England  Woman's  Press  As 
sociation.  Like  Miss  Whiting,  although 
an  alien  by  birth,  Boston  holds  her  as 
one  of  her  own,  of  whom  she  is  justly 
proud.  Her  books  are  "  Songs  of  the  Sun 
rise  Slope,"  "A  Dream  of  Lilies,"  "A 
Lady  and  Her  Letters,"  "  Making  Friends 
and  Keeping  Them,"  "  Bettering  Our 
selves,"  "  Questions  of  Honour  in  the 
366 


LITERARY    BOSTON"    OF    TO-DAY 

Christian  Life/'  "  The  Way  of  the  World 
and  Other  Ways,"  and  "  Lalor's  Maples." 
Other  Boston  members  of  the  New  Eng 
land  Woman's  Press  Association  who  have 
written  books  are  Miss  Henrietta  Sowle, 
of  the  Evening  Transcript,  Mrs.  Mary  J. 
Lincoln,  Mrs.  Lavinia  S.  Goodwin,  Mrs. 
Anna  L.  Burns,  Miss  Frances  C.  Spar- 
hawk,  Mrs.  Sarah  White  Lee,  and  Mrs. 
Whiton  Stone,  the  last  named  having  a 
wide  local  reputation  as  a  poet.  Mrs. 
Stone  has  published  several  volumes  of 
verse,  and  often  furnishes  poems  of  occa 
sion.  Sallie  Joy  White,  who  was  the  first 
president  of  the  Women's  Press  Associa 
tion,  and  the  first  woman  to  be  connected 
with  a  Boston  daily  paper,  has  written 
three  books  connected  with  the  domestic 
problem,  which  have  been  well  received 
and  given  her  a  high  reputation  as  a 
writer  on  these  subjects. 

367 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

FRANK  P.  STEARNS,  HENRY  D.  LLOYD,  AND 
THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  NEW  THOUGHT 
MOVEMENT 


of  this  kind  are  coming  to 
be  of  great  importance  in  the 
world  of  letters.  There  is  always 
something  of  a  great  man,  whether  his 
life  is  dedicated  to  the  public  in  writing, 
preaching,  and  lecturing,  or  in  political 
activity,  which  remains  untold,  —  a  pri 
vate  side,  a  minor  history,  the  comprehen 
sion  of  which  is  needed  to  round  out  our 
estimate  of  him  as  a  man  and  citizen. 
To  say  that  Mr.  Stearns  has  done  this  for 
the  men  he  has  known  is  but  faint  praise 
368 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

for  those  who  are  familiar  with  his  ex 
cellent  works  on  Italian  art." 

Thus  writes  a  critic  of  Mr.  Frank 
Preston  Stearns's  Kook,  "  Sketches  from 
Concord  and  Appledore,"  which  contain 
personal  recollections  of  Hawthorne,  Lou 
isa  Alcott,  Emerson,  David  Wasson,  Wen 
dell  Phillips,  Celia  Thaxter,  and  Whittier. 

Mr.  Stearns  is  the  second  son  of  one  of 
the  most  patriotic  citizens  of  Massachu 
setts,  George  Luther  Stearns,  who  was  an 
uncompromising  antislavery  worker,  the 
man  who  recruited,  largely  at  his  own  ex 
pense,  the  two  black  regiments,  the  Fifty- 
Fourth  and  the  Fifty-Fifth  Massachusetts ; 
who  gave  of  his  time  and  his  substance 
to  all  sorts  of  philanthropic  enterprises, 
in  whose  devotion  to  the  "  causes  "  which 
he  espoused,  as  Emerson  said,  "  he  gave 
more  than  he  asked  others  to  give."  His 
mother,  Mary  E.  Preston,  was  a  niece  of 

369 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Lydia  Maria  Child,  and  he,  in  his  own 
life  and  career,  has  proven  that  he  is  the 
worthy  son  of  such  a  parentage.  For 
sometimes  it  requires  more  real  heroism 
to  live  and  achieve  than  it  does  to  die 
for  a  cause. 

The  birthplace  of  Frank  Preston 
Stearns  was  Medford,  Massachusetts, 
which  had  been  the  family  home  for 
generations,  and  the  date  of  his  birth  was 
January  fourth,  1845.  He  was  first  sent 
to  school  in  Boston  when  he  was  nine  years 
old,  at  that  time  not  quite  having  learned 
to  read.  In  1857  he  was  sent  to  Concord 
to  the  school  of  Mr.  Frank  B.  Sanborn, 
where  he  was  fitted  for  college.  While 
he  was  in  the  school  the  attempt  was  made 
by  the  United  States  marshals,  in  1860, 
to  kidnap  Mr.  Sanborn,  and  young  Stearns 
was  present  through  the  whole  affair. 

He  was  prepared  for  college  in  1862, 
370 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

but  under  conditions,  and,  as  he  was  ambi 
tious  to  enter  without,  he  waited  another 
year  for  the  purpose  of  reviewing  his 
studies  and  strengthening  the  weak  points. 
During  this  year  he  assisted  his  father  in 
recruiting  the  coloured  Fifty-Fourth,  and 
he  also  saved  the  life  of  Mr.  Sanborn's 
brother,  who  had  broken  through  the  ice 
upon  the  Concord  River. 

He  was  then  an  athletic  young  fellow, 
and,  on  his  return  from  the  recruiting 
service  with  his  father,  he  joined  the  Low 
ell  baseball  club,  at  that  time  the  best  in 
New  England.  In  1867  he  entered  Har 
vard,  and  among  the  things  which  he  did 
was  to  lay  out  the  first  ball-ground  on  the 
Delta,  and  the  following  year  was  chosen 
in  the  first  nine  ever  organised  in  the 
college. 

He,  with  his  classmate,  E.  W.  Fox, 
started  the  Harvard  Advocate,  which  still 

371 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

flourishes,  and  is  a  recognised  college  in 
stitution.  There  had  been  a  college  paper 
started  a  little  before  Stearns  and  Fox 
undertook  the  Advocate,  but  it  had  been 
suppressed  by  the  college  government  for 
disrespectful  mention  of  the  members  of 
the  faculty.  Among  Mr.  Stearns's  most 
intimate  friends  at  college  were  Bellamy 
Storer,  the  present  minister  to  Spain,  Pro 
fessor  C.  L.  Jackson,  and  Speaker  James 
J.  Myers. 

Just  before  his  graduation  his  father 
died,  leaving  him  without  money,  and,  as 
he  found  out,  without  friends.  He  was 
compelled  to  remain  in  Medford  to  look 
after  the  family,  but  he  could  not  study 
a  profession  for  want  of  money,  nor  could 
he  go  away  to  teach,  as  his  presence  was 
imperative  in  the  home.  So  he  had  to 
look  out  for  business,  and  this  he  did 
without  avail,  in  spite  of  all  that  his  father 
372 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

had  done  to  help  others.  The  recipients 
of  the  father's  kindness  were  simply  in 
different  to  the  needs  of  the  son  until,  at 
last,  in  the  spring  of  1870,  Senator  Sum- 
ner,  hearing  through  Frank  W.  Bird  of 
Mr.  Stearns's  difficulties,  procured  a  posi 
tion  for  him  in  the  Boston  Navy  Yard  at 
a  remunerative  salary. 

The  young  man  had  been  sadly  handi 
capped  in  his  search  for  something  to  do 
on  account  of  his  health,  which  had  be 
come  broken  from  taking  care  of  a  brother 
during  a  severe  illness  in  the  last  vacation 
of  his  college  course.  He  was  up  with 
him  every  night  until  five  in  the  morning 
for  twenty-five  nights,  watching  him  with 
a  devotion  that  was  unparalleled  in  the 
history  of  brotherly  affection.  His  father's  ' 
death  came  a  month  after,  and  the  con 
fusion  and  trouble  that  followed  prevented 
the  system  from  recovering  a  healthy  tone. 

373 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

So  he  could  not  undertake  anything  which 
compelled  constant  attention  and  uninter 
rupted  effort,  a  fact  which  made  it  more 
difficult  to  procure  for  him  such  a  posi 
tion  as  he  could  fill. 

%In  spite  of  ill  health,  he  saved  enough 
out  of  his  salary,  so  that  in  the  late 
seventies  he  was  able  to  go  abroad  to  fit 
himself  for  a  literary  and  art  critic. 

When  he  was  in  Rome  the  first  time, 
he  was  so  discouraged  about  his  health 
that  he  did  all  manner  of  reckless  things. 
He  walked  across  the  Tiber  on  the  para 
pet  of  the  bridge,  forty  feet  above  the 
river,  and  went  at  night  into  the  most 
dangerous  parts  of  the  city,  hoping  that 
some  one  would  attack  him;  but,  like  all 
persons  who  are  careless  of  life,  and  hold 
its  possession  lightly,  he  was  immune  from 
all  danger. 

In    making    a    tour    of    Switzerland, 
374 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Mr.  Stearns  overestimated  his  physical 
strength,  brought  on  a  spinal  difficulty, 
and  returned  to  America  again  an  invalid. 
His  physician,  Doctor  Clarke,  was  dead, 
and  he  was  compelled  to  resort  to  other 
treatment,  and  was  incapacitated  for  work 
for  nearly  ten  years. 

In  1888  he  published  a  small  volume 
on  John  Brown,  but  that  summer  he  met 
with  an  accident  at  Mount  Desert,  which 
prevented  his  doing  much  work  for  the 
next  three  years.  Then,  in  1892,  he  pub 
lished  "  The  Real  and  the  Ideal  in  Lit 
erature  "  as,  in  a  manner,  a  reply  to 
William  D.  Howells.  In  1893  he  pre 
pared  his  volume  of  "  Sketches  from  Con 
cord  to  Appledore,"  the  review  of  which 
has  already  been  quoted.  Portions  of  that 
book,  as  well. as  "The  Real  and  Ideal," 
were  dictated  by  Mr.  Stearns  from  five 
to  ten  minutes  at  a  time,  which  was  the 

375 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

longest  period  which  he  could  work  con 
secutively. 

Mr.  Stearns's  methods  of  work  are 
much  like  those  of  Francis  Parkman.  He 
is  obliged  sometimes  to  stop  in  the  very 
middle  of  a  sentence  and  take  up  the 
thread  again  hours  afterward.  He  thinks 
out  paragraphs,  and  writes  or  dictates 
them  when  he  has  the  physical  strength 
to  do  so.  His  life  has  been  harder  than 
most  men's,  but  he  has  accomplished  fine 
results  in  spite  of  it,  and  consequently 
has  found  satisfaction. 

He  was  married  in  September,  1898, 
to  Miss  Emilia  Maciel,  with  whom  he  be 
came  acquainted  years  before  at  Fayal; 
and  at  the  same  time  he  purchased  the 
Sampson  estate  on  the  brow  of  Arlington 
Heights,  where  they  now  reside. 

The  house  stands  five  hundred  feet 
above  the  sea,  and,  from  his  front  piazza, 
376 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Mr.  Stearns  has  a  sweep  of  the  coast  from 
Egg  Rock  to  Minot's  Ledge ;  and  at  night 
the  twinkling  lights  of  Boston  and  Cam 
bridge  glow  in  a  sympathetic  companion 
ship.  Half  surrounding  the  house  is  a 
group  of  beautiful  maples,  which  the 
owner  cherishes  with  a  personal  fondness, 
and  he  has  given  each  one  a  Greek  name, 
Melos,  Paros,  Delos,  etc.  He  has  a  den 
which  is  his  very  own,  furnished  with 
quaint  old  rosewood  furniture,  part  of 
the  marriage  dower  of  his  wife,  which 
she  has  devoted  to  his  own  uses.  The 
chief  ornament  of  the  room  is  an  old 
Portuguese  chest  of  drawers  of  solid  rose 
wood,  in  the  Italian  style  of  Sansovino, 
and  on  the  top  of  this  is  a  group  of  Rocky 
Mountain  hawks.  There  are  numberless 
curios  in  this  room,  each  one  having  some 
personal  or  traditional  association,  which 
gives  them  a  value  which  is  unknown  in 

377 


LITERAEY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

the  mere  miscellaneous  groups  of  the  pro 
fessional  collector. 

Mr.  Stearns's  personality  is  most  de 
lightful.  Simple  and  hearty  in  his  man 
ner,  cordial  to  his  chance  visitor,  and 
genial  and  sympathetic  to  his  friends,  his 
sunny  nature  shines  out  in  spite  of  all 
he  has  had  to  endure,  until  those  who  know 
him  the  best  have  come  to  reverence  as 
well  as  to  have  a  deep  affection  for  him. 
His  is  a  unique  individuality  in  the  lit 
erary  world  of  to-day,  and  Boston  is  proud 
to  claim  him  as  her  very  own  dearly  be 
loved  child. 

Law  and  letters  are  once  more  wedded 
in  the  person  of  Mr.  Henry  Demarest 
Lloyd,  the  distinguished  political  econo 
mist,  and  the  man  who  started  out  single- 
handed  to  fight  the  trusts,  but  who  has 
won  thinking  men  and  women  to  his  side, 
until  he  no  longer  fights  alone,  but.  has  a 
brave  armv  of  followers.  378 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

A  distinct  ripple  in  the  world  of  affairs, 
both  literary  and  financial,  was  made 
when  his  first  article  on  the  subject,  en 
titled  "  The  Story  of  a  Great  Monopoly," 
was  published  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  in 
1881,  while  Mr.  Howells  was  still  the 
editor  of  that  magazine.  It  was  this 
article  which  initiated  the  trust  agitation, 
and  the  article  made  such  a  sensation  that 
several  editions  of.  the  magazine  were 
called  for. 

Following  this  article  in  rapid  succes 
sion,  Mr.  Lloyd  contributed  to  the  At 
lantic  Monthly  the  "  Political  Economy  of 
Fifty-Three  Millions  of  Dollars";  to  the 
North  American  Review  "  Making  Bread 
Dear,"  "  Lords  of  Industry,"  and  "  The 
New  Conscience."  An  interviewer  once 
wrote  of  Mr.  Lloyd  and  his  work :  "  These 
articles  may  be  the  work  of  an  idealist, 
but  read  one  of  them  and  see  how  hard 

379 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

a  blow  an  idealist  can  strike  when  his 
ideal  is  liberty  and  is  being  assailed." 

It  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  Mr.  Lloyd 
should  be  engaged  in  social  reform.  In 
deed,  he  could  hardly  help  it,  since  he  is, 
by  heredity,  born  to  it.  He  is  in  truth  a 
Puritan  of  the  Puritans.  His  father  is 
descended  from  Mehitable  Goffe,  daughter 
of  Walley,  the  regicide,  and  wife  of  Goffe 
(the  other  regicide),  both  of  whom  had 
to  fly  to  find  refuge  in  the  caves  near  New 
Haven,  Connecticut,  after  the  accession  of 
Charles  II.  to  power. 

The  Goffes  and  Walleys  were  kindred 
of  Cromwell,  Pym,  Hampden,  and  other 
leaders  in  the  Commonwealth  of  the  sev 
enteenth  century.  On  his  father's  side 
Mr.  Lloyd  is  also  collaterally  connected 
with  the  family  of  George  Washington. 
On  his  mother's  side  he  belongs  to  some 
of  the  oldest  Huguenot  families  of  New 
380 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

York,  his  ancestor,  David  Demarest,  who 
came  from  France  by  the  way  of  Holland 
like  so  many  other  Huguenots,  having 
been  a  member  of  the  privy  council  of  old 
Peter  Stuyvesant. 

Mr.  Lloyd  was  born  in  New  York  City 
on  the  first  of  May,  in  1847,  and  is  the 
son  of  Aaron  and  Maria  Christie  (Dem 
arest)  Lloyd.  He  is,  on  his  father's  side, 
a  descendant  in  the  fifth  generation  of 
John  and  Rebecca  (Ball)  Lloyd,  who  emi 
grated  from  Wales  in  the  seventeenth  cen 
tury.  His  ancestry  on  the  maternal  side 
has  already  been  given.  Mr.  Lloyd's 
grandfather,  John  C.  Lloyd,  was  a  soldier 
in  the  war  of  1812,  postmaster  at  Belle 
ville,  New  Jersey,  for  about  twenty  years, 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  county  coroner,  and 
judge  of  Essex  County  (New  Jersey) 
Court.  His  brother  was  David  Demarest 
Lloyd,  the  playwright. 

381 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

He  was  educated  in  the  Columbia 
Grammar  School  and  Columbia  College, 
New  York  City,  receiving  his  degree  in 
1867,  when  he  entered  the  Columbia  Law 
School.  While  he  was  in  college  he  won 
a  brilliant  legal  victory  over  the  president 
of  the  college,  for  which  exploit  he  is  still 
known  in  the  records  of  Columbia  as  "  the 
man  who  threw  Prex." 

And  this  is  the  story,  as  his  classmates 
tell  it,  and  as  it  is  still  recited  to  the 
incoming  students.  One  day  the  class  of 
'67,  Mr.  Lloyd's  class,  while  passing  to 
recitation,  found  a  door,  hitherto  open  to 
them,  closed  and  locked.  They,  however, 
followed  their  usual  route  —  with  results 
to  the  door.  The  president  of  the  college 
at  that  time  was  F.  A.  P.  Barnard,  the 
distinguished  editor  of  Johnson's  Cyclo 
paedia.  He  at  once  served  notice  upon  the 
class  of  '67  that  he  should  hold  the  entire 
382 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

class  responsible,  financially,  for  the  de 
struction  of  the  door.  The  class  returned 
word  that  it  declined  to  be  held  responsi 
ble.  President  Barnard  then  proposed 
that  the  matter  should  be  submitted  to 
trial  before  a  court  of  students,  organised 
for  that  purpose.  This  was  joyously  ac 
cepted  by  the  class,  and,  as  its  counsel,  it 
chose  Nicholas  Fish,  son  of  the  Secretary 
of  State  under  Grant,  and  who  has  him 
self,  since  that  time,  filled  important  po 
sitions  in  the  diplomatic  service  of  the 
United  States;  George  A.  Dewitt,  now  a 
prominent  lawyer  in  New  York;  Mr. 
Lloyd,  and  one  or  two  others. 

At  the  opening  of  the  court  Lloyd  raised 
a  constitutional  point  which  he  urged 
should  take  precedence  of  any  trial  of  the 
case  on  the  facts.  This  point  was  that 
the  college  had  no  right  to  hold  the  class 
responsible,  or  even  to  subject  it  to  trial, 

383 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

because  the  college  had  never  recognised 
the  class  as  an  agent  in  its  discipline,  and 
had  never  clothed  it  with  any  police  pow 
ers  over  its  members.  This  point  was 

urged  first  by  Mr.  Lloyd  as  a  "  plea  in 

i 

bar  of  trial,"  according  to  court-martial 
procedure,  and,  to  the  discomfiture  of 
President  Barnard,  his  plea  was  sus 
tained  by  the  court.  One  might  say, 
from  this  incident,  that  Mr.  Lloyd  was  a 
lawyer  by  instinct  as  he  is  by  education, 
although,  while  he  was  admitted  to  prac 
tise  in  1869,  he  has  never  practised  at  the 
bar. 

After  leaving  college  Mr.  Lloyd  was 
for  several  years  assistant  secretary  of  the 
American  Free  Trade  League,  organised 
by  William  Cullen  Bryant,  David  A. 
Wells,  and  other  prominent  reformers, 
under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Bryant,  and 
in  1870-71  he  delivered  courses  of  politi- 
384 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

cal  economy  in  one  of  the  high  schools 
of  New  York  City.  He  also  arranged  a 
series  of  public  addresses  on  the  tariff, 
and,  with  his  usual  fairmindedness,  which 
is  so  marked  a  characteristic  of  the  man, 
he  took  as  much  pains  to  have  the  pro 
tectionist  side  adequately  represented  as 
his  own. 

Mr.  Lloyd  took  an  active  part  in  the 
organisation  of  the  Young  Men's  Munic 
ipal  Reform  Association  of  New  York 
in  1870,  which  contributed  powerfully  to 
the  historic  overthrow  of  the  Tweed  re 
gime  at  the  polls  in  that  year.  Finding 
that  there  was  no  accessible  information 
for  the  guidance  of  reform  workers,  and 
seeing  at  once  the  absolute  need  for  such, 
Mr.  Lloyd  prepared  for  the  campaign  of 
1871  a  manual  for  the  use  of  voters,  com 
piled  from  the  election  laws,  and  entitled 
"  Every  Man  His  Own  Voter."  The  as- 

385 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

sociation  adopted  the  manual,  which  Mr. 
Lloyd,  refusing  any  payment,  put  at  their 
disposal  as  his  contribution  toward  the 
finances  of  the  campaign ;  and  it  was  scat 
tered  broadcast.  The  New  York  Times 
commented  editorially  upon  it  to  the 
effect  that,  if  the  Young  Men's  Municipal 
Reform  Association  contained  many  men 
of  the  initiative  talent  of  the  author  of 
this  manual,  the  result  could  not  be  in 
doubt. 

At  Horace  Greeley's  nomination  for 
the  Presidency  against  General  Grant,  in 
1872,  Mr.  Lloyd  left  active  politics  and 
went  to  Chicago  on  the  editorial  staff  of 
the  Chicago  Tribune.  He  had  worked 
actively  in  that  campaign  for  the  nomina 
tion  of  Charles  Francis  Adams,  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  on  a  revenue  tariff  and  civil- 
service  reform  platform,  and  he  and  his 
associates  of  the  Free  Trade  League  went 
386 


LITERAEY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

into  the  Chicago  convention  with  every 
assurance  that  they  would  be  successful. 
But  there  was  a  complete  overturn  of  their 
plans.  As  a  writer  expressed  it :  "  The 
reformers  put  Charles  Francis  Adams 
grain  into  the  mill,  and  the  grist  they 
ground  out  was  Horace  Greeley." 

So  skilful  had  been  the  manipulation 
of  the  Greeley  party  that  every  delegate 
from  that  State,  with  one  exception,  was 
for  Greeley,  that  exception  being  Mr. 
Lloyd.  He  was  overwhelmed  with  per 
suasions  to  give  at  least  one  vote  to  Mr. 
Greeley  as  a  compliment,  that  he  might 
go  before  the  convention  and  the  country 
at  least  on  the  first  ballot  with  the  unani 
mous  vote  of  his  State;  but  Mr.  Lloyd 
refused  to  abandon  his  standard-bearer, 
even  for  the  sake  of  giving  a  complimen 
tary  vote  to  Mr.  Greeley. 

He  remained  with  the  Chicago  Tribune 

387 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

from  1872  to  1885,  and  it  was  while  he 
was  thus  engaged  that  he  began  the  work 
with  which  his  name  is  now  specially  con 
nected.  His  first  book,  "  A  Strike  of  Mil 
lionaires  Against  Miners,"  was  published 
in  1890,  and  was  the  result  of  a  personal 
investigation  of  the  coal  miners'  strike  in 
Spring  Valley,  Illinois.  This  was  fol 
lowed,  in  1894,  by  his  greatest  work, 
"  Wealth  Against  Commonwealth,"  which 
the  Reverend  Edward  Everett  Hale  de 
clared  to  be  as  much  an  epoch-making 
book  as  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  In  1898 
he  published  "  Labour  Copartnership," 
and  in  1890  "A  Country  Without 
Strikes"  and  "Newest  England,"  both 
results  of  his  trip  abroad,  and  as  readable 
as  they  are  instructive.  It  is  said  that 
the  plan  for  allotting  the  lands  in  the 
opening  of  the  great  Indian  reservation  of 
Oklahoma  was  suggested  to  the  Depart- 
388 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

ment  of  the  Interior  by  the  description 
of  the  New  Zealand  system  in  "  Newest 
England."  Such  a  service  alone  makes 
the  writing  of  a  book  well  worth  while. 

Mr.  Lloyd's  style  is  graphic  and  often 
picturesque,  and  is  always  possessed  of  a 
fine  literary  quality.  Robert  Louis  Steven 
son  was  a  great  admirer  of  his,  and  he  said 
to  George  lies  in  a  letter,  which,  with  other 
letters  of  Stevenson,  Mr.  lies  has  put  in 
the  library  of  the  McGill  University :  "  I 
was  exceedingly  interested  by  the  articles 
of  Mr.  Lloyd,  who  is  certainly  a  very  capa 
ble,  clever  fellow;  he  writes  the  most 
workmanlike  article  of  any  man  known 
to  me  in  America,  unless  it  should  be 
Parkman.  Not  a  touch  in  Lloyd  of  the 
amateur;  and  but  James,  Howells,  and 
the  aforesaid  Parkman,  I  can't  call  to 
mind  one  American  writer  who  has  not 
a  little  taint  of  it." 

389 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

There  is  nothing  violent  or  eccentric 
about  Mr.  Lloyd's  philosophy,  his  meth 
ods,  or  his  language.  "  He  has  been  ac 
cused,"  says  one  of  his  critics,  "  of  being 
an  idealist,  which,  like  all  good  philoso 
phers,  he  certainly  is.  But  he  is  an 
idealist  armed  with  a  very  practical 
search-light,  which  he  unexpectedly  turns 
upon  dark  corners,  making  the  rats  that 
are  gnawing  through  the  municipal  dikes 
squeal  with  pain,  the  pain  of  discovery." 

Mr.  Lloyd  is  a  member  of  the  Twenti 
eth  Century  and  Authors'  Clubs  of  Boston, 
and  the  Chicago  Literary  Club.  He  was 
married  December  twenty-fifth,  1873,  to 
Jessie  Bross,  daughter  of  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor  William  and  Mary  Jane  (Jansen) 
Bross,  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Bross  was  lieu 
tenant-governor  of  Illinois  in  1865-1869, 
and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Chi 
cago  Tribune.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lloyd  have 
390 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

four  sons,  William  Bross,  Henry  Demar- 
est,  Demarest,  and  John  Bross  Lloyd. 

Among  the  leaders  of  the  new  thought 
movement  are  Horatio  Dresser,  Henry 
Wood,  and  Ralph  Waldo  Trine,  all  resi 
dents  of  Boston.  They  are  idealists  of 
the  Emersonian  type  —  thoughtful,  ear 
nest,  deeply  religious  men.  The  new 
thought  societies  follow  Emerson  in  refus 
ing  to  define  themselves.  The  leaders  are 
not  willing  to  form  churches  or  to  start 
a  sect.  They  withhold  themselves  from 
every  form  of  creed,  and  from  any  attempt 
to  define  their  belief.  The  Boston  Meta 
physical  Society  represents  the  new 
thought  movement  much  more  truly  than 
the  independent  societies  I  have  men 
tioned.  It  holds  frequent  meetings  for 
hearing  lectures,  for  discussion  and  the 
dissemination  of  new  thought  views,  as 
well  as  for  social  culture.  The  leaders 

391 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

advocate  the  attendance  upon  the  already 
established  churches,  and  the  conversion 
of  them  to  new  thought  ideas  and  methods. 
They  wish  to  leaven  all  churches  with 
their  spirit,  and  not  to  form  a  new  denom 
ination  to  contend  with  the  old  ones. 

Among  the  most  popular  writers  in  this 
movement  is  Ralph  Waldo  Trine,  a  grad 
uate  of  Johns  Hopkins,  the  author  of 
"What  All  the  World's  a-Seeking  "  and 
"In  Tune  with  the  Infinite,"  both  of 
which  have  sold  high  up  into  the  tens  of 
thousands.  "  The  Greatest  Thing  Ever 
Known "  has  sold  nearly  as  well,  and, 
in  fact,  everything  that  comes  from  Mr. 
Trine's  pen  finds  an  eager  audience  among 
progressive  people.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trine 
have  lived  in  Boston  for  several  years, 
and  have  a  wide  circle  of  friends,  which  is 
by  no  means  confined  to  the  new  thought 
movement. 
392 


LITERAEY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Another  writer  along  these  lines,  who 
has  contributed  a  number  of  helpful  books, 
is  Henry  Wood,  a  native  of  Vermont,  who 
has  resided  in  Cambridge  for  many  years. 
Mr.  Wood  is  a  contributor  to  many  scien 
tific  and  reform  periodicals,  and  has  writ 
ten  two  novels  of  serious  purpose,  in 
addition  to  "  The  Symphony  of  Life," 
"  Natural  Law  in  the  Business  World." 
and  other  books. 

Among  the  younger  writers  is  Mr. 
Horatio  W.  Dresser,  author  of  "  The 
Power  of  Silence,"  which  has  had  as  wide 
a  reading  as  any  of  Mr.  Trine's  books. 
Eight  or  nine  other  books  on  the  new 
phases  of  religion  and  metaphysics  are  set 
down  to  Mr.  Dresser's  credit,  although  he 
is  still  a  young  man.  Like  the  others 
mentioned,  Mr.  Dresser  is  a  lecturer  on 
the  new  thought  and  practical  philosophy, 
and  is  meeting  with  a  warm  welcome 

393 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

from  all  who  are  interested  in  bringing 
the  great  truths  of  the  soul  life  into  every 
day  thought  and  living.  For  the  days 
when  theology  was  everything,  and  the 
personal  problem  of  right  living  and  se 
rene,  helpful  thinking  only  secondary,  are 
past;  the  new  thought  is  permeating  the 
intelligent  masses,  and  Boston  is  furnish 
ing  some  of  the  best  writers  who  can  meet 
that  particular  demand. 


394 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

JOURNALIST  AUTHORS,  EDWARD  H.  CLEM 
ENT,  HENRY  AUSTIN  CLAPP,  BLISS  PERRY, 
EDWIN  D.  MEAD,  CURTIS  GUILD,  CHARLES 
E.  L.  WINOATE,  SYLVESTER  BAXTER,  AND 
EDMUND  NOBLE 

/N  these  days,  when  the  newspaper  takes 
on  more  and  more  of  the  magazine 
in  its  general  tone,  and  the  magazine 
in  turn  reflects  the  quality  of  the  news 
paper,  it  is  by  no  means  strange  to  find 
the  writer  for  the  latter  coming  in  by  the 
way  of  the  daily  paper,  while  the  erstwhile 
magazinist  seeks  recognition  and  pecuni 
ary  reward  through  the  columns  of  the 
journals.     To-day  there  is  no  marked  di- 

395 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

vision  line  drawn  between  the  newspaper 
worker  and  the  literary  man,  for  the  two 
characters  are  so  often  combined  that  any 
attempt  to  divorce  them  would  be  in  vain. 
And  so  it  is  with  the  clubs;  at  the  Press 
Club  some  one  looks  about  and  says: 

"  Why  are  all  these  people  here  ?  They 
are  not  of  the  press ;  they  are  book  writers 
or  magazine  workers.  We  are  of  the  true 
press,  the  daily  or  the  weekly  journal." 

"  But,"  says  another,  "  most  of  them 
are  writing  for  the  newspapers,  particu 
larly  for  the  Sunday  editions,  and  for  the 
syndicates." 

This  is  the  new  order  of  things,  and 
one  of  the  bright  lights  of  literary  Boston 
of  to-day,  one  who  has  acted  as  "  guide, 
counsellor,  and  friend  "  to  many  an  aspir 
ing  young  writer  in  his  capacity  as  editor, 
and  has  written  most  delightfully  in  his 
other  capacity  as  author,  is  Mr.  Edward 
396 


EDWARD    H.    CLEMENT 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

H.  Clement,  the  editor-in-chief  of  Bos 
ton's  most  typical  newspaper,  the  Evening 
Transcript. 

Mr.  Clement  was  born  in  Chelsea,  Mas 
sachusetts,  on  the  nineteenth  of  April, 
1843,  of  a  line  of  which  the  American 
ancestry  runs  to  the  immigrant  of  1643, 
who  came  from  Coventry,  England,  to 
Haverhill,  Massachusetts.  He  is  as  true 
a  patriot,  as  good  a  citizen,  and  as  loyal  an 
American  as  one  should  be  who  has  as  a 
birthday  the  anniversary  of  the  day  of 
Lexington  and  Concord,  the  day  when 

"  On  the  rude  bridge 

....  the  embattled  farmers  stood, 

And  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world." 

He  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  city,  and  was  prepared  there  for 
Tufts  College,  from  which  he  was  grad 
uated  in  1864,  the  first  scholar  of  his 

397 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

class.  He  went  immediately  upon  grad 
uation  to  assist  in  the  publication  of  an 
army  post  paper  in  the  South,  which  was 
established,  with  the  abandoned  plant  of 
the  Savannah  News,  at  Hilton  Head, 
South  Carolina,  by  two  correspondents  of 
the  New  York  Herald.  While  this  was 
a  most  interesting  experience,  it  could  not 
be  permanent,  so,  in  1867,  Mr.  Clement 
was  back  in  Boston  upon  the  staff  of  the 
Advertiser.  From  there,  by  the  invita 
tion  of  Mr.  John  Russell  Young,  he  went 
to  New  York,  upon  the  staff  of  the  Trib 
une,  where  he  remained  for  several  years, 
working  his  way  steadily  upward,  from 
exchange  editor  to  night  editor,  through 
the  grades  of  city  editor  and  telegraphic 
editor.  This  New  York  experience,  on 
the  most  influential  of  its  great  news 
papers,  proved  a  splendid  training,  and 
equipped  the  young  editor  for  filling  any 
898 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

•responsible  position.  He  was  for  awhile 
in  New  Jersey,  having  ventured  into  an 
independent  enterprise,  but  in  1875,  on 
the  invitation  of  Mr.  William  A.  Hovey, 
who  was  at  that  time  its  managing  edi 
tor,  he  came  to  Boston,  and  became  the 
musical,  dramatic,  and  art  editor  of  the 
Transcript.  Mr.  Hovey  retired  from  the 
editorial  management  in  1881,  and  Mr. 
Clement  succeeded  him.  Ever  since  then 
he  has  been  at  the  head  of  this  representa 
tive  Boston  paper,  which  has  been  always 
distinctive  in  its  refinement  of  general 
conduct,  and  has  reflected  the  culture,  phi 
lanthropy,  and  public  spirit  of  the  com 
munity. 

"  It  is  not  possible  to  detract  from  the 
merits  of  the  founders,  the  managers,  or 
the  successive  editors  of  the  Transcript, 
—  Walter  and  his  sister,  Mrs.  Richards, 
Sargent,  Haskell,  and  Hovey,"  said  one, 

399 


LITERAEY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

in  writing  about  the  work  of  the  youngest 
editor,  "  but  its  growth  in  value  during 
the  last  seventeen  years,  through  a  com 
bination  of  fortunate  circumstances,  has 
been  by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  fine  Sat 
urday  night  edition,  which  has  become  a 
New  England  standby,  and  brings  the 
scattered  Bostonians  in  various  parts  of 
the  world  into  touch  with  home,  has  grown 
up  largely  under  Mr.  Clement's  inspira 
tion.  The  digestion  of  the  enormous  vol 
untary  contribution  to  the  favourite  paper 
is  a  large  task.  Yet  those  who  know  the 
editor  think  they  recognise  his  hand  in 
many  a  little  touch  beyond  the  common, 
or  a  bit  of  piercing  causticity  which  cuts 
so  clean  that  it  inflicts  a  painless  wound." 
Mr.  Clement's  poetical  contributions  to 
the  leading  magazines  are  of  a  high  order, 
for,  although  it  be  necessary  to  harness 

400 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Pegasus  to  the  hack  work  of  a  daily  paper, 
yet,  once  out  of  traces,  he  is  as  graceful 
and  as  strong  in  the  use  of  his  wings  as 
ever.  His  high  spirit  cannot  be  tamed. 
Critics  are  inclined  to  accord  to  his  ode, 
"  Vinland,"  his  most  permanent  title  to 
literary  fame.  It  was  written  for  and 
delivered  at  the  special  session  of  the 
American  Geographical  Society  at  Water- 
town,  Massachusetts,  on  November  twenty- 
first,  1889,  to  commemorate  the  discovery 
of  the  ancient  city  of  Norumbega. 

It  is  rarely  that  an  occasional  poem 
rises  to  the  height  of  this  most  remark'able 
one.  A  criticism  written  of  it  at  the  time 
says  that  "  it  is  a  classic,  boldly  modern, 
yet  getting  at  the  ideal  in  the  heart  of 
things  almost  as  thrillingly  as  Parsons, 
alone  among  our  poets,  has  been  able  to 
do.  There  is  no  external  affectation  of 

401 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

fancy  in  it.  It  is  virile  with  imagination 
which  must  have  been  the  outgrowth  of 
life  and  experience." 

Personally  Mr.  Clement  is  a  most  at 
tractive  man.  He  has  the  kindliest  blue 
eyes  and  the  most  sympathe'tic  face,  smil 
ing  out  from  a  frame  of  silver  hair,  and 
his  manners  are  fine  and  simple.  He  is 
the  embodiment  of  physical  and  mental 
strength  and  virility,  and  he  gives  the 
impression  of  largeness,  and  one  feels  that 
the  pettiness  of  character,  which  one  often 
finds  among  both  men  and  women,  is  ut 
terly  unknown  to  him. 

He  is  a  loyal  friend,  and,  when  occasion 
requires,  a  kindly  antagonist,  always  with 
the  courage  of  his  convictions,  uninflu 
enced  by  prejudice,  just  as  becomes  a  man 
in  the  position  which  he  holds,  and  one 
of  whom  Boston  is  proud,  both  as  the 
newspaper  man  and  the  author. 
402 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Mr.  Clement  has  a  delightful  home  in 
Brookline,  just  off  the  Boulevard,  where, 
with  his  charming  wife,  he  exercises  a 
gracious  hospitality. 

Mr.  Edwin  Munroe  Bacon,  another 
well-known  newspaper  editor  of  Boston, 
has  written  a  number  of  historical  books. 
Mr.  Bacon  began  his  literary  career  as 
reporter  of  the  Boston  Advertiser,  and 
was  later  managing  editor,  having  served 
various  apprenticeships  on  that  standard 
journal.  His  brilliant  editorials  as  editor 
of  Time  and  the  Hour  made  that  paper 
famous,  and  his  handbooks  of  historical 
Boston  are  considered  the  best  in  existence. 
These  include  "  Historic  Pilgrimages  in 
New  England,"  "  Literary  Pilgrimages 
in  New  England,"  "King's  Hand-Book 
of  Boston,"  "Boston  Illustrated,"  "Ba 
con's  Dictionary  of  Boston,"  and  "  Walks 
and  Rides  in  the  Country  about  Boston." 

403 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

Verily  Mr.  Bacon  may  well  be  considered 
an  authority  on  Boston,  ancient  and 
modern. 

Then  there  is  Louis  C.  Elson,  musician, 
critic,  journalist,  lecturer,  and  the  writer 
of  "  Famous  Composers  and  Their  Work  " 
and  several  other  entertaining  books  on 
musical  topics  and  musical  history.  He, 
too,  has  been  for  many  years  connected 
with  the  Boston  Advertiser  as  musical 
critic,  and  those  who  are  familiar  with 
that  paper  know  well  his  criticisms,  witty, 
entertaining,  keenly  appreciative,  yet  in 
tolerant  of  slovenly  work  and  sham  pre 
tence.  Mr.  Henry  C.  Lahee  has  also 
written  books  of  merit  on  musicians,  and 
his  volumes  on  "  Famous  Singers  of  Yes 
terday  and  To-Day  "  and  u  Famous  Vio 
linists  of  Yesterday  and  To-Day "  are 
standard  works. 

Another  Boston  writer  along  these  lines 
404 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

is  Lewis  Clinton  Strang,  dramatic  editor 
of  the  Boston  Journal.  Mr.  Strang  has 
been  associated  with  light  opera  and  plays 
as  well  as  with  newspaper  work;  but  he 
has  done  more  enduring  work,  too,  in  his 
books  on  "  Famous  Actors  of  the  Day," 
"  Famous  Actresses  of  the  Day,"  and 
"  Prima  Donnas  and  Soubrettes  of  Light 
Opera  and  Musical  Comedy  in  America." 
He  was  born  in  Westfield,  and  finished  his 
education  at  the  Boston  University.  With 
youth,  health,  and  opportunity  at  his  com 
mand,  Mr.  Strang  is  destined  to  become 
even  better  known  in  his  chosen  field 
than  he  is  now;  and  we  may  look  to  him 
to  uphold  worthily  the  laurels  of  his  pro 
fession. 

Still  another  prominent  man  who  has 
come  into  literature  by  the  way  of  the 
newspaper  is  Mr.  Henry  Austin  Clapp, 
the  recognised  dramatic  authority  of  Bos- 

405 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF  TO-DAY 

ton,  whose  summing  up  of  a  play  or  a 
player  is  regarded  as  final  by  the  most 
cultured  part  of  the  city  residents. 

Mr.  Clapp  is  a  descendant  from  the 
Puritans,  his  ancestor,  the  famous  Roger 
Clap,  for  whom  his  only  son  is  named, 
coming  to  Dorchester,  now  a  portion  of 
Boston,  but  for  many  years,  until  quite 
recently,  in  fact,  an  independent  town 
ship,  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago. 

If  one  may  judge  from  the  memoirs 
of  this  same  Captain  Roger  Clap  —  the 
name  was  then  spelled  with  but  the  one 
"  p  "  —  there  were  no  sterner  precisians 
among  the  immigrants  than  were  the  Clap 
family.  What  would  this  worthy  have 
said  had  it  been  vouchsafed  to  him  to 
know  that  one  of  his  descendants  would 
have  been  famous  as  an  habitue  of  the 
theatre,  whose  avocation  it  was  to  discuss 
406 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

plays  ?  It  is,  perhaps,  fortunate  that  he 
was  spared  the  knowledge,  and  that  the 
world  has  grown  more  liberal  since  the 
days  when  he  sought  the  wooded  penin 
sula  below  Boston  town. 

Mr.  Henry  Clapp  was  born  in  Dorches 
ter  on  the  seventeenth  of  July,  1841,  and 
was  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1860,  and 
went  from  there  to  the  Harvard  Law 
School.  In  addition  to  his  work  as  critic 
and  as  lecturer  and  commentator  of  Shake 
speare,  Mr.  Clapp  has  for  twenty-two 
years  filled  the  office  of  court  clerk  in 
the  Supreme  Judicial  Court.  Most  men 
would  have  been  satisfied  with  this  posi 
tion,  for,  except  that  it  has  long  vaca 
tions,  it  is  as  arduous  as  it  is  dignified 
and  responsible.  It  implies  a  thorough 
training  at  the  bar,  which  Mr.  Clapp  re 
ceived,  after  his  graduation  from  the  Har 
vard  Law  School,  in  the  office  of  Hutchins 

407 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

&  Wheeler.  It  also  implies  a  self-posses 
sion  and  clearness  of  mind,  which  nature 
bestowed  upon  him,  and  it  involves  the 
acquisition  of  a  judicial  faculty  from  his 
constant  habitude  of  the  court-room.  And 
it  is  this  very  judicial  quality  which  has 
been  of  such  service  to  him  in  his  work 
as  critic,  and  this  training  which  has 
helped  him  to  analyse,  to  sum  up,  to 
balance  mental  forces,  all  of  which  are 
necessary  in  correct,  unbiased  criticism. 

Mr.  Clapp  has  always  hidden  the  man 
behind  the  critic.  He  contends  that  only 
so  can  criticism  be  just.  Unlike  many 
another,  he  refrains  from  personally  know 
ing  the  people  concerning  whom  he  is  to 
write,  fearing  lest  he  might  be  influenced 
by  their  personality,  and  so  fail  to  do 
justice  to  their  work.  Consequently,  his 
work  has  none  of  the  flavour  of  the  ad 
vance  agent,  but  is  criticism  pure  and 
408 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

simple,  fine,  intelligent,  and,  in  the  main, 
just. 

There  is  no  better  proof  of  this  than 
the  fact  that,  among  the  members  of  the 
profession,  there  is  no  one  whose  criticisms 
are  so  eagerly  watched  for  as  Mr.  Clapp's, 
and  what  he  says  "  settles  it "  in  profes 
sional  vernacular. 

Besides  being  recognised  as  the  leading 
critic,  Mr.  Clapp  is  regarded  as  the  finest 
commentator  of  Shakespeare  of  modern 
time.  His  talks  are  eagerly  listened  to, 
and  his  monographs  on  characters  and 
plays  are  widely  read.  They  are  thought 
ful,  logical,  and  scholarly,  and  are  so  full 
of  a  tender  appreciation  that  they  are 
among  the  most  delightful  literature 
which  is  presented  to  the  Boston  of  to 
day.  Mr.  Clapp's  home  is  on  Marlboro 
Street,  in  the  beautiful  Back  Bay  district 
of  Boston. 

409 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

If  Mr.  Edwin  D.  Mead  were  permitted 
the  choice  of  characterisation  by  which  he 
would  prefer  to  be  known,  it,  undoubtedly, 
would  be  that  of  "  the  good  citizen," 
rather  than  that  of  author  or  litterateur. 
And  yet  he  is1  both,  and  philosopher  as 
well. 

Some  one  has  said  that  there  was  not  a 
better  nor  more  genuine  Boston  patriot 
than  Edwin  Mead;  and  yet  he  is  a  Bos- 
tonian  only  by  adoption.  He  is  of  the 
Granite  State,  born  in  Chesterfield,  in  the 
somewhat  famous  Cheshire  County,  Sep 
tember  twenty-ninth,  1849.  He  was  a 
farmer's  son,  a  genuine  country  boy,  who 
loved  the  woods,  the  fields,  the  hills,  the 
farm  life,  and  its  associations,  and  who 
yet  broke  loose  from  them,  because  in  the 
wide  world  outside  there  was  work  wait 
ing  for  him  to  do. 

He  was  educated  at  the  local  schools, 
410 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

and  then,  while  quite  young,  he  went  ac 
tively  to  work  in  the  store  of  his  brother- 
in-law,  studying  in  the  evening,  writing  at 
his  leisure  for  his  own  amusement,  and 
conducting,  quite  by  himself,  a  magazine 
in  manuscript.  He  was  editor,  publisher, 
and  contributor  all  in  one,  and  was  the 
entire  subscription  list. 

He  was  not  without  his  inspirations, 
for,  in  the  lovely  Vermont  town  across 
the  Connecticut  from  Chesterfield,  lived 
his  relatives,  the  family  of  Larkin  G. 
Mead,  known  to  all  the  country  about  as 
"'Squire  Mead."  It  was  "'Squire  Mead" 
who  was  instrumental  in  establishing  in 
Brattleboro  the  first  high  school  in  "Ver 
mont,  and  was  always  interested  in  edu 
cational  matters.  He  was  the  typical 
good  citizen  of  his  time,  a  genuine  Amer 
ican  through  every  fibre  of  his  being. 
His  nephew  from  over  the  river  often  vis- 

411 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

ited  in  the  family,  and  he  had  as  com 
panions  during  his  visits  his  cousins,  one 
of  whom  is  now  Mrs.  William  D.  Howells, 
another  the  sculptor,  Larkin  G.  Mead,  Jr., 
and  still  another,  William,  now  of  the 
New  York  firm  of  McKim,  Mead,  & 
White,  architects. 

Through  the  kindly  influence  of  Mr. 
Howells,  he  obtained  a  position  in  the 
famous  "  Old  Corner  Bookstore,"  which 
in  those  days,  the  palmy  days  of  Ticknor 
and  Fields,  was  a  sort  of  authors'  club. 
The  "  Immortals,"  as  the  Atlantic  group 
were  called,  came  and  went  in  the  most 
informal  and  mortal  fashion,  and  they 
chatted  with  each  other,  and  "  jollied  "  the 
boys  in  the  store  in  the  most  charmingly 
familiar  fashion.  It  must  have  been  a 
delight  to  have  been  a  "  boy  "  there,  with 
the  junior  of  the  firm  himself  one  of  the 
illuminati,  giving  the  tone  to  the  estab- 
412 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

lishment,  and  the  nine  years  which  Mr. 
Mead  spent  there,  making  friends  with 
those  whose  friendship  was  an  inspiration, 
were  most  happy  ones. 

From  there  the  young  man  went  abroad, 
with  the  intention  of  studying  to  become 
an  Episcopal  clergyman,  but  he  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  men  interested  in  the 
"  broad  church  "  movement,  became  inter 
ested  in  that  movement  himself,  as  he 
wrote  home  to  some  of  the  American  mag 
azines  the  accounts  of  some  of  its  heroes, 
and  he  left  that  religious  body  in  1876, 
and  took  another  course  in  life. 

He  remained  abroad  for  five  years, 
studying  in  London  at  the  British  Mu 
seum,  in  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  and  he 
became  a  liberal  in  politics  and  religion. 
When  he  came  home  he  was  a  man  ripe 
in  general  scholarship  and  in  knowledge 
of  the  administration  of  charities  and 

413 


LITERAKY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

municipal  affairs.  He  had  not  studied 
books  alone,  but  forms  of  government  and 
people,  philanthropies  and  reforms. 

Mr.  Mead  was  intensely  interested  in 
Mrs.  Hemenway's  work  for  the  preserva 
tion  of  the  Old  South,  and  he  assisted  her 
in  every  way,  giving  generously  of  his 
time  and  his  energy.  He  is  the  editor  of 
the  leaflets  which  are  reprints  of  the  doc 
uments  and  historical  extracts  appropriate 
to  the  subjects  of  the  Old  South  patriotic 
lectures,  and  these  lectures  he  has  ar 
ranged,  although  they  have  been  given 
under  the  auspices  of  a  committee. 

In  1889,  in  connection  with  the  Rev 
erend  Edward  Everett  Hale,  Mr.  Mead 
took  hold  of  the  New  England  Magazine, 
and  in  the  next  year  he  became  its  sole 
editor,  resigning  his  position  when  he 
went  abroad  during  the  summer  of  1901. 

In  the   "  Drawer "  of  this  magazine  he 
414 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

found  periodical  expression  for  his  wise 
and  stimulating  words  concerning  the  du 
ties  of  the  hour.  Fearless  in  expression, 
he  has  often  spoken  words  which  have 
proven  forerunners  of  some  new  advance 
movement,  and  many  of  these  have  been 
reprinted  in  leaflet  form,  and,  to  quote 
from  one  of  his  friends :  "  Mr.  Mead's 
visitor  will  come  away  with  his  pockets 
as  heavily  laden  with  pamphlets  as  though 
he  had  paid  a  visit  to  a  tract  society." 

Mr.  Mead  is  the  founder  and  the  con 
trolling  genius  of  the  Twentieth  Century 
Club,  an  organisation  which  does  a  social, 
an  ethical,  an  educative  work  —  a  sort  of 
public  and  distributive  "  Round  Table " 
—  which  exists  only  for  its  own  select 
membership,  and  yet  which  is  coming  to 
have  a  decided  and  marked  influence  upon 
the  public  mind.  Does  one  say  "  Twen 
tieth  Century  Club,"  all  ears  are  open,  for 

415 


LITERARY   BOSTON   OF    TO-DAY 

something  worth  while  is  to  be  quoted. 
Through  its  various  departments  this  club 
has  much  to  do,  and  there  are  few  burning 
questions  neglected,  from  matters  of  life 
and  death  to  the  social  fabric,  to  the  cul 
ture  of  the  taste  of  the  community  in  art 
and  music  and  literature. 

The  Municipal  League,  the  School 
League,  and  the  Good  Citizenship  Society 
are  other  sources  of  expression  for  Mr. 
Mead's  active  mind  and  acute  public  con 
science.  Such  an  one  as  he  should  never 
be  spared  from  its  service  by  the  public. 
And  yet  he  is  of  great  use  to  the  com 
munity  in  his  position ;  the  voluntary  and 
independent  associations  in  which  he  is 
so  prominent  are,  as  it  were,  good  rings 
constructed  to  oppose  and  neutralise  bad 
ones. 

With  all  this  work  of  a  busy  life,  it 
would  seem  as  though  there  was  little  lei- 
416 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

sure  left  for  purely  literary  work,  and  yet 
Mr.  Mead  has  been,  even  at  this  compara 
tively  early  age,  a  prolific  author.  His 
first  publication  was  a  volume  of  sermons 
by  the  Reverend  Stopford  Brooke,  which 
he  edited,  and  in  the  same  year  he  pub 
lished  "The  Philosophy  of  Carlyle." 
This  was  followed  by  "  Martin  Luther  and 
the  Reformation."  "  Outline  Studies  of 
Holland,"  "  Annotated  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,"  "  Representative  Gov 
ernment,"  and  "  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church  and  the  Public  Schools "  are 
among  his  works. 

Mr.  Mead  married  Miss  Lucia  True 
Ames,  who  is  as  deeply  interested  in  all 
philanthropic,  civic,  and  reform  work  as 
is  her  husband,  and  she  is  also  a  writer 
of  ability. 

Another  prominent  journalist  who  has 
written  books  that  have  been  favourably 

417 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

received  is  Charles  E.  L.  Wingate,  man 
aging  editor  of  the  Boston  Journal.  Mr. 
Wingate  was  born  at  Exeter,  !N".  H.,  in 
1861,  so  that  he  is  still  a  young  man. 
He  is  a  Harvard  graduate,  and  has  been 
connected  with  Boston  papers  since  taking 
his  degree  in  1883,  also  acting  much  of  the 
time  as  Boston  correspondent  of  the  Critic 
and  for  some  of  the  New  York  dailies. 
Besides  a  history  of  the  Wingate  family, 
he  has  -written  a  "  Playgoers'  History," 
"  Shakespeare's  Heroines  on  the  Stage," 
"  Shakespeare's  Heroes  on  the  Stage," 
"  Famous  American  Actors  of  To-Day," 
and  a  novel,  "  Can  Such  Things  Be  ?  " 
He  resides  at  Winchester,  where  he  has 
a  charming  home,  graced  by  a  cultivated, 
congenial  wife  and  an  interesting  family. 
The  Boston  Journal  has  furnished  another 
writer  of  successful  books  in  Mr.  E.  F. 
Harkins,  author  of  "  Little  Pilgrimages 
418 


LITERARY  BOSTON  OF  TO-DAY 

Among  Men  Who  Have  Written  Famous 
Books  "  and  "  Little  Pilgrimages  Among 
Women  Who  Have  Written  Famous 
Books." 

The  story  of  literary  Boston  would  not 
be  complete  without  mention  of  the  vet 
eran  writer,  traveller,  and  editor,  Mr.  Cur 
tis  Guild,  who  is  a  Bostonian  of  Bostoni- 
ans.  He  has  travelled  widely  and  much, 
and  has  written  most  entertainingly  con 
cerning  those  travels,  and  yet  he  is  to  his 
heart's  core  the  devoted  son  of  his  native 
city.  Does  any  one  doubt  this  ?  Then 
watch  when  some  landmark  of  the  old 
town  is  threatened,  and  see  how  speedily 
he  comes  to  the  rescue. 

He  has  spoken  again  and  again  to  his 
own  Bostonian  Society,  to  his  Club  of  Odd 
Volumes,  to  the  Commercial  Club,  and  to 
gatherings  of  school  children  concerning 
his  travels,  but  oftener  and  with  more  elo- 

419 


LITERARY  BOSTON  OF  TO-DAY 

quencc  about  the  local  familiar  things, 
their  history,  their  lessons,  their  responsi 
bility.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  estimate 
the  values  of  that  mental  anchorage  which 
the  conservative  mind  imparts  in  this  day 
of  drifting  and  uprooting.  The  care  for 
what  is  old  and  venerable  is  a  wholesome 
one.  Nobody  understands  the  present  or 
knows  how  to  prepare  for  the  future  with 
out  a  respectable  knowledge  of  the  past, 
and  the  kind  of  civic  patriotism,  which 
almost  unconsciously  grows  up  in  the  mind 
of  a  man  whose  studies  have  led  him,  as 
it  were,  to  grow  up  with  the  town  of  his 
birth  from  its  childhood  of  hundreds  of 
years  ago,  is  a  more  genuine  way  of  grow 
ing  up  with  a  place  than  only  to  fix  one's 
immediate  interests  there. 

Mr.   Guild's  house   is   in  Mt.   Vernon 
Street,    the    street    of    all    other    Boston 
streets,  peculiar,  dignified,  characteristic, 
420 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

fitted  in  every  way  to  be  the  home  of  such 
a  man.  Totally  unfitted  by  its  steep  slope 
for  any  proper  city  use,  quite  indifferent 
to  ordinary  conveniences  of  access  for  traf 
fic  or  business,  its  broad  slope  shaded  by 
old  trees,  and  bordered  in  part  by  gardens, 
Mt.  Vernon  lies  peaceful  and  content 
above  the  world's  highways.  With  a  bit 
of  the  common  and  the  bay  visible  from 
its  upper  windows,  and  under  the  shadow 
of  the  gilded  dome,  in  a  great,  square,  old- 
fashioned  house,  comfortable  and  roomy, 
solid,  plain,  and  sober  in  its  fittings,  Mr. 
Guild  is  rounding  out  his  busy,  useful 
life,  surrounded  by  books  of  all  kinds, 
with  one  of  the  finest  libraries  in  the  city, 
and  with  material  enough  at  his  hand  to 
write  such  a  history  of  his  native  city  as 
has  rarely  been  written  of  any  city  under 
the  sun. 

But  he  does  not  live  altogether  in  the 

421 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

past;  he  is  the  good,  the  progressive  cit 
izen,  well  disposed  to  every  reform  meas 
ure,  yet  who  brings  to  bear  the  sentiment 
of  permanence  as  the  essence  of  real  prog 
ress,  and  would  build  the  structure  of  the 
present  and  the  future  upon  the  founda 
tion  of  the  past,  and  not  "  on  the  shining, 
shifting  sands  of  accident." 

It  is  something  over  seventy-five  years 
ago  since  Mr.  Guild  was  born.  Although 
his  father  was  a  Harvard  man,  circum 
stances  prevented  the  son  from  following 
his  footsteps  to  Cambridge,  and  his  edu 
cation  was  at  the  public  schools,  the  gram 
mar  and  English  High,  from  thence  to 
the  counting-room,  the  Journal  office,  the 
Traveller,  and  in  1857  the  Commercial 
Bulletin,  the  paper  which  has  been  iden 
tified  with  him,  rather  than  he  with  it, 
in  all  the  years  since.  He  has  been  a 
councilman  and  an  alderman  of  his  native 
422 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF   TO-DAY 

city,  doing  it  public  service  of  the  purest 
and  most  devoted  kind.  His  books  have 
chiefly  been  chronicles  of  his  travels 
abroad,  but  most  delightfully  told,  with 
all  the  freedom  of  the  friend  who  knows 
that  he  has  a  sympathetic  listener,  and 
yet  carrying  with  them  a  most  delightful 
literary  flavour.  It  is  indeed  a  fortunate 
community  which  possesses  such  a  citizen 
as  Boston  has  in  Mr.  Curtis  Guild. 

The  Boston  Herald  has  several  strong 
editorial  writers  who  have  written  books, 
among  them  being  the  Reverend  Francis 
Tiffany,  whose  cheerful  messages  of  prac 
tical  philosophy  reach  thousands  of  read 
ers  every  week.  His  books  are  "  Life  of 
Dorothea  Lynde  Dix,"  "  Bird  Bolts,"  and 
"  This  Goodly  Frame,"  a  book  of  travel. 
Mr.  Tiffany  was  for  many  years  a  Unita 
rian  preacher  at  West  Newton,  but  ex 
changed  the  pulpit  for  the  wider  audience 

423 


LITEKARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

gained  through  journalism  and  literature 
a  number  of  years  ago,  making  his  resi 
dence  in  old  Cambridge. 

Sylvester  Baxter  is  more  widely  known 
as  a  contributor  to  leading  magazines  and 
author  of  books  on  topics  of  municipal 
interest  than  as  a  member  of  the  Herald 
staff,  which  he  was  for  many  years.  At 
present  he  is  devoting  all  his  time  to  gen 
eral  literature,  living  and  working  in  a 
delightful  home  in  Maiden,  Massachusetts, 
just  north  of  Boston.  It  was  he  who  first 
suggested  the  organisation  of  Greater  Bos 
ton,  aiding  the  project  by  pen  and  personal 
influence.  He  was  secretary  of  the  Met 
ropolitan  Park  System  of  Boston  when  it 
was  first  started,  and  is  a  park  commis 
sioner  for  Maiden.  Truly  Boston  has 
much  for  which  to  thank  Mr.  Baxter. 
Another  Herald  attache  who  is  known  to 
literature  is  Edmund  Noble,  who  had  an 
424 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

interesting  career  on  European  journals 
before  coming  to  this  country.  Mr.  Noble 
was  born  in  Glasgow  in  1853.  HP  began 
his  newspaper  career  on  St.  Helen  s  News 
paper,  and  was  later  connected  with  Lon 
don  journals,  and  was  in  Russia  several 
years  as  correspondent.  While  there  he 
met  a  beautiful  young  Russian  woman, 
whom  he  has  since  married,  and  in  collab 
oration  with  her  he  has  written  a  book 
on  Russia.  Previously,  however,  he  had 
written  books  and  magazine  articles  on 
that  country,  besides  a  number  of  volumes 
on  topics  of  general  interest. 

The  story  of  literary  Boston  would  not 
be  complete  without  another  mention  of 
the  Atlantic  Monthly  and  the  man  who 
stands  at  the  pilot-wheel  which  keeps  it 
along  its  peculiar  course  on  the  sea  of 
belles-lettres.  From  the  days  when  James 
T.  Fields  and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes 

425 


LITERARY  BOSTOK  OF  TO-DAY 

launched  it,  the  Atlantic  has  had  famous 
men  in  its  editorial  chair.  Thomas  Bailey 
Aldrich,  William  Dean  Howells,  Horace 
Scudder,  Walter  Hines  Page,  Bliss  Perry, 
—  where  can  be  found  a  group  of  men 
better  fitted  for  that  position  ?  During 
its  forty  odd  years  the  Atlantic  has  occu 
pied  a  place  unique  in  American  litera 
ture;  and  the  present  incumbent  of  the 
editorial  chair  is  amply  capable  of  main 
taining  the  high  standard  set  for  it  so 
many  years  ago  by  its  founders.  Bliss 
Perry  was  born  in  Williamstown,  Massa 
chusetts,  in  1860,  graduating  from  Will 
iams  College  when  he  was  twenty-one  years 
old.  After  a  few  years'  study  in  Berlin 
and  Strasburg  universities,  he  returned  to 
his  alma  mater  to  become  professor  of 
English,  a  post  he  occupied  seven  years. 
He  went  next  to  Princeton,  New  Jersey, 

where  he  discharged  the  duties  incident  to 
426 


BLISS    PKKRY 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

the  occupancy  of  the  chair  of  English  for 
six  years.  During  this  time  he  edited  vol 
umes  of  Scott,  Burke,  and  other  standard 
authors,  and  also  did  much  original  work. 
Five  books,  four  of  them  novels  and  short 
stories,  are  credited  to  him,  all  bearing 
the  hall-mark  of  the  highest  literary  cul 
ture;  and  those  who  knew  the  young 
Princeton  professor  and  his  work  were  not 
surprised  when  he  was  offered  the  editor 
ship  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly.  He  came 
to  Boston  in  1899,  and  resides  in  Cam 
bridge.  He  is  on  the  executive  board  of 
the  Authors'  Club  and  a  valued  member 
of  that  organisation.  Readers  of  the  At 
lantic  need  not  be  told  how  well  he  is 
carrying  out  the  idea  of  the  founders  of 
that  famous  monthly,  nor  be  assured  that 
it  is  in  safe  hands. 


427 


CHAPTEK    XIX. 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF   THE   FUTURE 


^FTER  all,  what  is  literature  ?    Is 

/  1     it  a  collection  of  words  euphoni 

ously  arranged  to  indicate  a  cer 

tain  number  of  harmonious  ideas  which 

shall  convey  more  or  less  of  delight  to 

its  readers,  or,  perhaps,  enforce  an  obvious 

truth  in  a  way  which  becomes  impressive  ? 

Or  is  it  made  up  of  another  set  of  words, 

so  arranged  as  to  present  striking  pictures 

to  the  retina  of  the  mind  with  such  force 

as  to  create  a  demand  only  to  be  gratified 

by  advertising  of  a  more  or  less  sensa 

tional  nature  with  consequent  commercial 

value?      In    these    days    the    thoughtful 

428 


LITERARY   BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

reader  may  well  stop  to  ask  himself  these 
questions;  and  in  the  answer  lies  some 
inkling  of  the  future  of  American  litera 
ture. 

Says  John  Burroughs :  "  A  man  does 
not  live  out  half  his  days  without  a  cer 
tain  simplicity  of  life.  Excesses,  irregu 
larities,  violences,  kill  him.  It  is  the  same 
with  books;  they,  too,  are  under  the  same 
law ;  they  hold  the  gift  of  life  on  the  same 
terms.  Only  an  honest  book  can  live; 
only  absolute  sincerity  can  stand  the  test 
of  time."  And  yet  he  says  again,  speak 
ing  of  the  time  when  every  writer  must 
lay  down  his  pen  and  join  the  silent  throng 
of  the  past :  "  How  is  it  going  to  fare  with 
Lowell,  Longfellow  and  Whittier  and 
Emerson  and  all  the  rest  of  them?  How 
has  it  fared  with  so  many  names  in  the 
past  that  were  in  their  own  days  on  all 
men's  tongues?  Of  the  names  just  men- 

429 


LITERARY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

tioned,  Whittier  and  Emerson  drew  more 
from  the  spirit  of  the  times  in  which  they 
lived,  shared  more  in  a  particular  move 
ment  of  thought  and  morals,  than  the  other 
two,  and  to  that  extent  are  they  in  dan 
ger  of  dropping  out  and  losing  their  vogue. 
The  fashions  of  this  world  pass  away, 
fashions  in  thought,  style,  in  humour,  in 
morals,  as  well  as  in  anything  else." 

And  so,  although  Boston  may  not  have 
to-day  its  Emerson,  its  Holmes,  its  Low 
ell,  there  are  numerous  workers  in  litera 
ture  who  have  already  established  a  world 
wide  fame,  and,  better  yet  for  its  literary 
future,  an  ever-widening  group  of  earnest 
young  toilers,  who  have  a  long  stretch  of 
years  before  them  in  which  to  work  out 
their  young  ambitions.  Already  the  names 
of  some  of  these  are  familiar  in  the  higher 
ranks  of  literature,  and  to  them  we  look 
for  a  continuance  of  Boston's  literary 
430 


LITEEAKY    BOSTON    OF    TO-DAY 

fame.  To  them  we  look  for  the  earnest 
purpose  which  shall  find  highest  pleasure 
in  artistic  creation,  and  to  look  on  a  fresh 
idea  as  a  "  watcher  of  the  skies  when  a 
new  planet  swings  into  his  ken."  If  the 
creative  impulse  is  theirs,  combined  with 
the  sincerity  of  purpose  and  the  persever 
ance  of  soul,  they  have  already  grasped 
the  greatest  good  of  the  literary  worker. 
To  them  we  commend  the  words  of  Mrs. 
Browning's  poem : 

"  Sit  still  upon  your  thrones, 

O  ye  poetic  ones : 
And  if,  sooth,  the  world  decry  you, 
Let  it  pass  unnoticed  by  you, 

Ye  to  yourselves  suffice, 

Without  its  flatteries." 


THE  END. 


431 


SNDEX 


Adams,  Charles  Follen,  German  dialect,  309 ;  "  Yaw- 
cob  Strauss,"  310 ;  early  life  and  literary  work, 
310—314. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  386. 

Adams,  Oscar  Fay,  literary  work,  326 ;  education  and 
connections,  327. 

Advertiser,  Bonton,  38,  159,  160,  202,  398,  403,  404. 

Agassiz,  Alexander,  work  at  Harvard,  268 ;  literdry 
work,  268. 

Agassiz,  Mrs.  Louis,  268. 

Agitator,  236. 

Alcott,  Louisa  M.,  369. 

Aldrich,  Thomas  Bailey,  place  of  birth,  17  ;  residences, 
16,  17,  19  ;  his  Boston  home,  19,  20,  21,  23 ;  personal 
appearance,  16  ;  editorial  connections,  17,  18  ;  list 
of  books,  18,  19,  150,  426. 

Allen,  Stillman  B.,  333. 

Allen,  Willis  Boyd,  devotion  to  literature,  332 ;  birth 
place,  333 ;  books,  334  ;  home  and  social  life,  335. 

American  Historical  Review,  270. 

Amherst,  Mnss.,  315. 

Anagnos,  Julia  Romana,  47,  48,  52. 

Anagnos,  Michael,  48. 

Andover,  Maine,  197. 

Andover,  Mass.,  109. 

Arlington,  Mass.,  119,  122,  256. 

Arlington  Heights,  352,  376. 

Ashley,  Prof.,  271. 

Aspinwall,  Mrs.  Thomas  (Alicia  Towne),  197. 

Atlantic  Monthly,  61,  69,  125.  127,  136,  149,  150,  187, 
190,  209,  217,  258,  324,  379,  412,  425,  426,  427. 

Bacon,  Edwin  Munroe,  journalistic  work,  403 ;  books, 
403 — 404. 

Bancroft,  George,  20. 

433 


INDEX 


Barnard,  F.  A.  P.,  382,  383. 

Bates,  Arlo,  early  life,  172-174 ;    editorial  connections, 

174_176;    literary  work,  176 — 177. 
Bates,  Katharine  Lee,  274. 
Baiter,  Sylvester,  424. 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  88. 
Belmont,  'Mass.,  120,  256. 
Berwick,  Me.,  66,  67,  69,  152. 
Blake,  Mary  E.,  351,  352. 
Bohemian,  The,  314. 
Boston  Author's  Club,  51,  93,  156,  178,  222,  224,  300, 

327,  351,  427. 

Boston  Latin  School,  34,  168,  264,  315. 
Boston,  streets  and  localities,  19,  20,  25,  43,  46,  48,  57, 

58,  61,  64,  66,  74,  77,  79,  88,  99,  106,  137,  170,  171, 

172,  186,  202,  205,  219,  220,  221,  226,  227,  269,  283, 

288,  291,  301,  352,  353,  409,  420. 
Boston  University,  275,  405. 
Brattleboro,  Vt.,  411. 
Brookline,  191,  197. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  339. 
Brooks,  Elbridge  S.,  223,  253. 
Brooks,  Geraldlne,  work  and  education,  223,  224. 
Brooks,  Phillips,  14,  105,  106,  304. 
Brown,  Abbie  Farwell,  224. 
Brown,   Alice,   editorial   work,   73 ;    short  stories  and 

novels,  73-76. 
Brown  University,  308. 
Bryant,  William  Cullen,  384. 
Buckham,  James,  early  life,  323 ;    literary  work,  324  ; 

home  life,  324. 
Budget,  Boston,  359,  360. 
Burns,  Anna  L.,  367. 
Burroughs,  John,  128,  187,  429. 
Butterworth,   Hezekiah,   qualities  as  a  writer,   131 — 

133;    birthplace  and  early  life,  133,  134;    literary 

work,  133 — 137;    lecture  work,  138,  318,  319. 
Catholic  Union  and  Times,  363. 
Cambridge,  25,  27,  119,  197,  207,  209,  221,  258,  265, 

266,  268,  269,  271,  350. 
Century  Magazine,  136,  150,  281. 
Commercial  Bulletin,  442. 
Commercial,  Cincinnati,  357. 
Channing,  Blanche  M.,  196. 
Cheney,    Edna    Dow,    philanthropic    work,    250,    253 ; 

birthplnoe,  education,  and  marriage,  250 ;    literary 

work,  253. 

Cheney,  Seth  Wells,  250. 
Chesterfield,  N.  H..  410.  411. 
Chicago,  11,  12.  13,  189,  231,  235,  236. 
Choate,  Rufus,  91. 
Churchman,  The,  253. 

434 


INDEX 


Clapp,  Henry  A.,  dramatic^  criticism,  405  ;  birthplace 
and  ancestry,  406,  407  ;'  place  in  literature,  409 ; 
home,  409. 

Clark,  Rev.  Edward  L.,  305. 

Clarke,  Helen  Archibald,  childhood,  283 ;  education, 
284  ;  musical  work,  285  ;  collaboration  with  Miss 
Porter,  286,  287  ;  home,  288. 

Clement,  Edward  H.,  dedication  ;  birthplace  and  edu 
cation,  397  ;  journalistic  and  literary  work,  398 — 
401  ;  personality,  402  ;  home,  403. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  189. 

Colby  University,  321. 

Columbia  University,  53,  382. 

Coman,  Katherine,  274. 

Connecticut,  82,  83. 

Converse,  Florence,  274,  353. 

Conway,  Katharine  Eleanor,  Boyle  O'Reilly's  estimate, 
362  ;  birthplace  and  education,  362  ;  editorial  con 
nections.  363 — 365  ;  personal  character,  365 — 366  ; 
books,  366 — 367. 

Cooke,  George  Willis,  work  in  the  pulpit,  301 — 302  ; 
literary  work,  301 — 304  ;  birthplace  and  education, 
302  ;  books,  303 — 304. 

Cornell  University,  141. 

Cosmopolitan,  217. 

Courier,  Boston  Sunday,  174. 

Critic,  The,  418. 

Crothers,  Rev.  Samuel,  274. 

Cummings,  Edward,  36,  305. 

Dana,  Paul,  293. 

Dana,  Richard  H.,  293. 

Dartmouth  College,  128,  178,  339. 

Davis,  Prof.,  272. 

Dedham,  Mass.,  163,  165. 

Deland,  Margaret,  beginning  of  her  literary  career, 
94 — 97  ;  her  books,  97,  98,  101,  102  ;  personality, 
98 ;  her  two  homes,  99,  108. 

Delineator,  The,  215. 

Derby,  Lucy,  95,  96. 

Detroit  Free  Press,  312,  313. 

Devereux,  Mary,  205. 

Diaz,  Abby  Morton,  ancestry,  253,  254 ;  anti-slavery 
and  suffrage  work,  254  ;  literary  work,  254  ;  home, 
256. 

Dickinson,  Anna,  88. 

Dlx,  Beulah  Marie,  home,  210 ;  ancestry  211 ;  edu 
cation,  212  ;  literary  work,  212 — 216. 

Dix,  Edwin  Asa,  211. 

Dole,  Rev.  Charles  F.,  301. 

Dole,  Nathan  Haskell,  collaboration,  218  ;  birthplace, 
292  :  education.  293  ;  literary  career,  293 — 300. 

Donald,  Rev.  E.  W.,  305. 

435 


INDEX 


Dorchester,  92,  207,  220,  314. 

Dresser,  Horatio,  391,  393. 

Dreyfus,  Mrs.  Carl  (Lillian  Shuman),  birthplace  and 
education,  221 — 222 ;  marriage,  222  ;  club-life, 
222;  literary  work,  222,  223. 

Dreyfus,  Carl,  222. 

Dubuque,  la.,  232,  233,  235. 

Duxbury,  220,  228. 

East  Gloucester,  112. 

Eastman,  Julia,  275. 

Eliot,  President,  connection  with  Harvard,  284 ;  lit 
erary  work,  264,  265  ;  home  in  Cambridge,  265 — 2CT. 

Elliott,  John,  55. 

Elliott,  Maud  Howe,  44,  54,  55. 

Elson,  Louis  C.,  musical  and  literary  work,  404. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  14,  15,  59,  141,  219,  249,  3R9, 
391,  429,  430. 

Erzeroum,  Turkey,  314. 

Everett,  Edward,  25. 

Exeter,  N.  H.,  418. 

Fall  River,  Mass.,  229. 

Farlow,  Professor,  269. 

Farquhar,  Anna  (Mrs.  Bergengren),  birthplace  am! 
early  life,  354  ;  books,  354,  355  ;  personality  an<l 
home  life,  355. 

Fenollosa,  Ernest,  293. 

Fields,  James  T.,  14,  18,  57,  60,  61,  64,  425. 

Fields,  Mrs.  James  T.,  her  home,  56 — 60 ;  her  mar 
riage  to  Mr.  Fields,  60  ;  her  books,  61  ;  her  philaii 
thropies,  61 — 63. 

Field,  Roswell,  11,  12,  23. 

Fiske,  John.  258. 

Ford,  Paul  Leicester,  325. 

Ford,  Worthington  C.,  325. 

Foss,  Sam  Walter,  poetry,  305,  306 ;  early  life,  30G  ; 
education,  307  :  editorial  connections,  307  ;  library 
work,  308  ;  books,  308,  309. 

Fox,  E.  W..  371. 

Framingham,  Mass.,  122. 

Frye,  Emma  Sheridan,  204. 

Fuller,  Anna,  qualities  as  a  writer,  197,  198:  begin 
ning  of  literary  work,  198 ;  books,  197 — 202 ; 
method  of  work.  200 — 203. 

Fuller,  Margaret,  26,  29,  49. 

Gardiner,  Me.,  54. 

Gilman,  Arthur,  connection  with  Radcliffe,  270 ;  lit 
erary  work,  271. 

Gilman,  Nicholas  P.,  316. 

Globe,  Boston,  217. 

Globe-Democrat,  360. 

Goodale,  Prof.  G.  L.,  272. 

Goodwin,  Lavinia  S.,  367. 

436 


INDEX 


Gordon,  Rev.  George,  304. 

Grant,  Hubert,  162  ;  the  creator  of  Selma  White,  167  ; 
birth  and  education,  168  ;  literary  work,  169  ;  home 
life,  170. 

Gray,  Prof.  Asa,  272. 

Greeley,  Horace,  387. 

Guild,  Curtis,  public  and  literary  work,  419 — 423 ; 
home,  420 — 421  ;  early  life,  422. 

Guiney,  Louise  Imogen,  76 ;  quality  of  work,  288 ; 
postmistress  of  Auburndale,  288 ;  education  and 
home  life,  289  ;  literary  work,  288 — 290. 

Guiney,  General  P.  II.,  2»9. 

Hale,  Edward  Everett,  25  ;  "Dean  of  Literary  Boston," 
31  ;  home  life,  32 — 34  ;  birth  and  school-days,  34— 
35  ;  his  ministry,  35  ;  philanthropies,  36 — 37  ;  lit 
erary  work,  87 — 39. 

Hall,  David  Prescott,  52. 

Hall,  Florence  Howe,  52. 

Halstead,   Murat,  357. 

Hampton  Falls,  74,  140. 

Hanover,  N.  H.,  178,  339. 

Harbour,  J.  L.,  birthplace  and  early  life,  318 ;  liter 
ary  work,  317 — 322  ;  lecture  platform,  321 — 322. 

Harkins,  E.  A.,  418. 

Harper's  Magazine,  136,  150,  217. 

Hart,  Albert  Bushnell,   270. 

Harvard  Advocate,  371. 

Harvard  Graduates'  Magazine,  270. 

Harvard  University,  17,  34,  52,  141 — 159,  163,  168, 
179,  186,  213,  258,  259,  264,  265,  267,  268,  269,  270. 
271,  293,  333,  350,  371,  407,  418.  ' 

Haverhill,  Mass.,  397. 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  14,  15,  26,  59,  219,  369. 

Hazard,  Caroline,  274. 

Herald,  Boston,  88,  423,  424. 

Herald,  New  York,  398. 

Herrick,  Rev.  Samuel,  305. 

Higginson,  Thomas  Wentworth,  23  ;  early  life,  23 — 
27  ;  his  work  in  the  ministry,  27 — 28  ;  literary 
work,  28 — 30  ;  home  and  family,  28  ;  Mrs.  Higgin 
son,  28. 

Hingham,  Mass.,  294. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  14,  15,  57,  59,  219,  258,  425, 
430. 

Horton,  Rev.  E.  A.,  305. 

Hovey,  William  A.,  399. 

Howe,   Henry  Marion,  52,   53. 

Howe,  Julia  Ward,  25  ;  position,  39 — 41 ;  private  life, 
42—45 ;  birthplace  and  early  life,  45 — -46 ;  her 
marriage,  46  ;  children,  47,  51 — 55  ;  her  Boston 
homes,  48,  49  ;  residence  in  London,  46 :  in  Italy, 
47 ;  club-life,  42,  50,  51 ;  her  books,  49,  50. 

437 


INDEX 


Howe,  Samuel  Gridley,  46,  49,  141. 

Howells,  William  Dean,  18,  375,  426. 

Howells,  Mrs.  William  D.,  412. 

Independent,  N.  Y.,  112,  217. 

International  Review,  182 — 185. 

Irving,  Washington,  26,  342. 

Jackson,  Prof.  C.  L.,  372. 

Jackson,  Edward  Payson,  books,  314 — 316 ;  birth 
place,  314. 

Jamaica  Plain,  217,  219,  250,  300. 

James,  Prof.  William,  273. 

Jewett,  Sarah  Orne,  friendship  with  Mrs.  Fields,  63 — 
65  ;  personality,  64  ;  methods  of  work,  65 — 67  ; 
home-life  in  Berwick,  Me.,  67 — 69  ;  literary  work, 
69 — 72. 

Jewett,  Sophie,  275. 

Johnson,  Rev.  William,  274. 

Journal,  Boston,  405,  418,  422. 

Journal,  Providence,  174. 

Journal  of  Economics,  Quarterly,  270. 

Journal  of  Ethics,  International,  282. 

Journal  of  Social  Science,  141. 

Kennebunkport,  Me.,  101,  106,  122. 

King,  Wm.  Basil,  274. 

Kittery  Point,  333. 

Knowles,  Frederic  Lawrence,  editorial  and  literary 
work,  325. 

Lahee,  Henry  C.,  404. 

Langdell,  C.  C.,  Harvard  connections,  268 ;  literary 
work,  268. 

Lanman,  Prof.,  273. 

Lanza,  Gaetano,  275. 

Lee,  Sarah  White,  367. 

Lexington,  302,  397. 

Lincoln,  Mary  J.,  367. 

Lippincott's  Magazine,  213,  215,  217. 

Llvermore,  Daniel  P.,  229. 

Livermore,  Mary  A.,  88  ;  work,  226  ;  birthplace,  227  ; 
education,  227 — 228 ;  marriage,  229  ;  work  with 
Sanitary  Commission,  230 — -237 ;  other  philan 
thropic  work,  238,  239 ;  home  life,  239 — 241  ;  lit 
erary  work,  236 — 241. 

Lloyd,  Henry  Demarest,  fighting  the  trusts,  378, 
379  ;  literary  work,  379 — 390 ,  ancestry,  380 ; 
birthplace,  381 ;  college  training,  382 — 384  ;  polit 
ical  economic  work,  384 — 3S7  :  books.  388  ;  style, 
389 — 390  ;  connections,  390  ;  marriage,  390. 

Lodge,  Henry  Cabot,  birthplace,  179  :  Washington  and 
Nahant  homes,  179^ — 18l  ;  connection  with  the  law, 
182 ;  literary  work,  181 — 184  ;  political  career, 
184—185. 

London,  78,  81. 

438 


INDEX 


Longfellow,   Henry  W.,  1.4,  26,  28,  59,  219,  258,  259, 

260,  261,  369,  429. 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  14,  15,  59,  219,  258,  259,  260, 

261,  429,   430. 

Lowell,   Percival,   Boston   connections,   177 ;    literary 

work,  177. 

Lynn  Saturday  Union,  308. 
Lyon,  Prof.,  272. 
McCracken,  Elizabeth,  224. 
McKenzle,  Rev.  Alexander,  274. 
Maine,  115 — 152,  172,  173,  174,  293,  353. 
Maiden,  Mass.,  424. 
Mansfield,  Richard,  155,  204. 
Marean,  Emma  Bndicott,  290. 
Morgan,  Forrest,  218. 
Mead,  Edwin  D.,  birthplace  and  early  life,  410 — 413  ; 

life   abroad,    413 ;     philanthropic    work,    414 — 416 ; 

literary  work,  414 — 417. 
Mead,  Mrs.   (Lucia  True  Ames),  417. 
Mead,  Larkin  G.,  411,  412. 
Medford,  370,  372. 
Melrose,  239,  242,  324. 
Michigan,  302,  346,  347. 
Milton,  246. 
Morse,  John  Torrey,  Jr.,  birthplace,  185 ;    connection 

with    law    and    literature,    186 ;     historical    work, 

186  ;    Boston  home,  186. 
Moulton,    Louise    Chandler,    Boston    home,    77 — 81 ; 

London  connections,  81 — 82 ;    birthplace  and  early 

life,  82 ;    beginning  of  her  literary  career,  82 — 86 ; 

marriage,  86 ;    her  kindness  to  young  authors,  89 — 

90;    friendship  with  Mrs.  Spofford,  114. 
Moulton,    William    U.,   husband  of   Louise   Chandler ; 

editor  True  Flag,  86. 
Mtinsterberg,  Prof,  273. 
Myers,  James  J.,  372. 
Nahant,  Mass.,  180,  181. 
National  Magazine,  353. 
Newburyport,  Mass.,  115. 
New  Hampshire,  74,  140,  302,  307. 
News,  Savannah,  398. 
Newton  Centre,  Mass.,  113. 
New   York,    17,   45,   49,    53,    122,    189,    207,   214,   344, 

381,  385,  398. 
Niagara  Falls.  294. 
Noble,  Edmund  C.,  424,  425. 
North  American  Review,  182,  259,  260,  379. 
Norton,  Charles  Eliot,  126  :   birth,  259  ;   education  and 

editorial  work,  259 ;    connection  with  Harvard  Uni 
versity,  259  ;    literary  work,  260 — 264. 
O'Reilly,    John    Boyle,    147,    148,    149,    150,    362,    363, 

364. 

439 


INDEX 


Oskaloosa,  la.,  318. 

Outlook,  The,  136,  320. 

Page,  Walter  Hines,  426. 

Paine,  Robert  Treat,  20,  61. 

Palfrey,  John  G.,  26. 

Pall  Mall  Gazette,  200. 

Palmer,  Alice  Freeman,  267 ;  birthplace  and  early 
life,  344 — 346  ;  college  life,  345 — 349  ;  marriage, 
350. 

Palmer,  George  Herbert,  Cambridge  home,  266 ;  edu 
cation  and  Harvard  connections,  266 :  literary 
work,  266,  267,  350. 

Papyrus  Club,  151,  152,  158,  166,  226. 

Paris,  75,  124. 

Parkman,  Francis,  376. 

Parsons,  Charles,  27. 

Peabody,  Josephine  Preston,  quality  of  work,  206 — 
210  ;  birthplace  and  education,  207  ;  present  home, 
209;  books,  209. 

Peabody,  Prof.,  273. 

Penhallow,  Charles,  293. 

Perry,  Bliss,  editor  of  Atlantic  Monthly,  425 — 426, 
427 ;  birthplace  and  education,  426?  427 ;  literary 
work,  427. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  88,  100,  369. 

Picayune,  New  Orleans,  360. 

Pickering,  Prof.,  273. 

Pidgin,  Charles  Felton,  books,  330;  statistician,  330, 
331 ;  birthplace,  332. 

Pier,  Arthur  Stanwood,  323. 

Pilot,  The,  147 — 148,  361,  362,  363,  365. 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  254. 

Poet-Lore,  278,  282,  283,  285.. 

Pomfret,  Conn.,  82,  83. 

Ponkapog,  16,  17. 

Poor,  Agnes  Blake,  literary  work,  196,  197;  home 
life,  197 :  nom-de-plume,  197. 

Porter,  Charlotte,  birthplace  and  early  life,  276 — 279 ; 
education,  280,  281 ;  literary  work,  281  ;  connec 
tion  with  Poet-Lore,  282,  283 ;  collaboration  with 
Miss  Clarke,  286. 

Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  17,  22,  67,  307. 

Post,  Chicago  Evening,  11. 

Post,  N.  Y.  Evening,  199. 

Potter,  Mary  Knight,  205. 

Prince,  Helen  Choate,  granddaughter  of  Rufus  Choate, 
91 ;  early  life,  91 ;  her  books,  92 — 93. 

Pritchett,  Henry  S.,  275. 

Proctor,  Edna  Dean,  place  of  residence,  93 ;  connec 
tion  with  literary  Boston,  93. 

Radcliffe  College,  202,  207,  212,  213,  224,  270,  291. 
346. 

440 


INDEX 


Reed,  Helen  Leah,  work  at  "  Harvard  Annex,"  202  ; 
editorial  work,  202  ;  books,  202,  203. 

Republican,  Springfield,  141. 

Register,  Christian,  191,  290. 

Register,  Harvard,  263. 

Hhode  Island,  133—134. 

Rhodes,  James  Ford,  historical  work,  188 — 189  ;  birth 
place  and  education,  189. 

Richards,  Laura  E.,  53,  54. 

Richards,  Henry,  53. 

Robinson,  Edith,  literary  work,  224  ;    books,  225. 

Roche,  James  Jeffrey,  personality,  143 — 145 ;  birth 
and  education,  145,  146 ;  editorial  connections,  147 — 
149  ;  books,  150,  362. 

Rolfe,  William  H.,  271. 

Royce,  Josiah  H.,  273. 

Roxbury,  33,  158,  221,  332. 

Sanborn,  Edwin  D.,  339 

Sanborn,  Franklin  Benjamin,  birthplace,  140 ;  grad 
uation,  141  ;  literary  and  public  work,  141 — 142. 

Sanborn,  Kate,  Good  Cheer,  337,  338;  birthplace  and 
early  life,  339,  340 ;  literary  work,  340 — 342  ;  coun 
try  home,  343. 

Sawyer,  Walter  Leon,  323. 

Scribner's  Magazine,  150. 

Scudder,  Horace,  258,  271,  426. 

Scudder,  Samuel,  271. 

Scudder,  Vida,  210—275. 

Searle,  Arthur,  272. 

Sears,  Richard,  293. 

Severance,  Caroline,  50. 

Shakespeariana,  281,  282. 

Shaler,  Nathaniel,  connection  with  Harvard,  267 ;  lit 
erary  work,  267. 

Shillaber,  B.  P.,  123,  124. 

Smith  College,  141,  340,  346. 

Smith,  Justin  Harvey,  Boston  connections,  178 ;  col 
lege  work,  178  ;  literary  work,  178. 

Somerville,  224,  308. 

Sowle,  Henrietta,  367. 

Sparhawk,  Frances  C.,  367. 

Spofford,  Harriet  Prescott,  Boston's  claim  upon  her, 
114  ;  birthplace,  114  ;  marriage  and  home  at  Deer 
Isle,  115  ;  her  books  and  her  personality,  116. 

Spofford,  Richard  S..  115—116. 

Stanwood.  Edward,  322 

Stearns,  Frank  Preston,  estimate,  368 ;  birth  and  an 
tecedents,  369.  370  ;  education,  370  ;  college  train 
ing,  371 — 372  ;  life  abroad,  373 — 375  ;  literary 
work,  375 — 376;  home,  376 — 377;  personality,  378. 

Stearns,  George  Luther,  369. 

Stedman,  E.  C.,  83. 

441 


INDEX 


Stimson.  Frederic  Jesup.  novelists  and  the  law,  161 ; 

birthplace,  163 ;    his  books,  164 — 165  ;    his  home  in 

Dedham,  165 — 166. 
St.  Nicholas,  136. 
Storer,  Bellamy,  373. 

Strang,  Lewis  C.,  journalistic  and  literary  work,  405. 
Sullivan,  Thomas  Russell,  ancestry,  152 — 153;    birth 

and  education,   153,   154 ;    play-writing,   154,   155 ; 

other  literary  work,  155—158. 
Sumichrast,  Prof.,  269. 
Sumner,  Charles,  88. 
Sutherland,  Evelyn  Greenleaf,  newspaper  work,  203 ; 

nom-de-plume,   203 ;    stories  and  plays,   203,   204 ; 

home  life,  204,  216. 
Sutherland,  Dr.  J.  P.,  203. 
Swett,  Sophie,  352,  353. 
Swett,  Susan  Hartley,  352. 
Switzerland,  374. 
Tanssig,  Prof.,  270. 
Technology,  Massachusetts  Institute  of,  52,  175,  252, 

265,  275. 

Thaiter,  Celia,  369. 
Thayer,  Prof.,  273. 
Thoreau,  Henry,  141. 
Ticknor,  Benjamin  H.,  217. 
Ticknor,  Caroline,  home,  217 ;   literary  work,  217,  218, 

219  ;    home  life,  219. 
Ticknor,  George,  26. 
Ticknor,  William  D.,  217. 
Tiffany,  Rev.  Francis,  423. 

Time  and  The  Hour,  32.  56,  102,  179,  298,  403. 
Times,  N.  T.  Sunday,  124. 
Times,  New  York,  386. 
Torrey,  Bradford,  birthplace,  187;   present  home,  187, 

188;    literary  work,  187,  188. 
Train.  Elizabeth  Phipps,  first  literary  work,  219;  list 

of  books,  219 — 220. 
Transcript,  Boston  Evening,  70,  203,   217,  293,  294, 

304,  367,  397,  399. 
Traveller,  358,  422. 
Tribune,  Chicago,  360,  386.  387,  390. 
Tribune,  N.  Y.,  87,  217.  397. 
Trine.  Ralph  Waldo.  391.  393. 
Trowbridge,  John  Townsend.  25 ;    his  first  book,  118 ; 

his  home  in  Arlington,  119,  122 — 130;    birthplace 

and   early   life.    122.    123 ;     beginnings   of    literary 

work,  123,   124 ;    life  abroad,   124 ;    his  connection 

with  the  "  Abolitionists,"  and  novels  of  that  period, 

125 ;    editorial  connections,   124,  126 ;    methods  of 

work.  128. 

Trowbridge,  Prof.  John,  270. 
Tufts  College.  275,  397. 

442 


INDEX 


University  of  Vermont,  323. 

Vermont,  323,  328,  329. 

Waltham,  Mass.,  112. 

Ward,  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps,  birthplace  and  early 
life,  109  ;  marriage,  110  ;  her  books,  110 — 112 ; 
her  homes,  113. 

Ward,  Helen  Alden,  291. 

Ward,  Herbert  Dickinson,  birthplace  and  education, 
112;  marriage,  112;  books  and  social  life,  113. 

Ward,  May  Alden,  president  of  State  F'ederation 
Women's  Clubs,  290 ;  literary  work,  290 ;  birth 
place  and  education,  290 ;  home  life,  291. 

Ward,  Samuel,  49. 

Ward,  William  G.,  literary  work,  290 — 291. 

Ward,  William  Hayes,  112—113. 

Warner,  Charles  Dudley,   128 

Warren,  Cornelia,  literary  work,  220 ;  Settlement 
House  life,  220. 

Warren,  R.  I.,  133. 

Waters,  Clara  Ersklne  Clement,  364. 

Webster,  Daniel,  339. 

Webster,  Ezekiel,  339. 

Wellesley  College,  141,  210,  274,  346,  348,  353. 

Wellesley,  Wellesley  Hills,  187. 

Wells,  David  A.,  384. 

Wendell,  Barrett,  269. 

Weymouth,  Mass.,  187. 

Wheelwright.  John  T..  birthplace.  158 ;  graduation 
and  editorial  connections,  159 ;  books,  160. 

White,  Eliza  Orne.  first  work,  190;  Brookline  home, 
191,  working  habits.  192 — 194 ;  books,  195,  196. 

White,  Sallle  Joy,  367. 

Whiting.  Lillian,  estimate  of  work,  355  :  early  life, 
356,  357  ;  newspaper  connections,  357 — 360  ;  books, 
360 — S61 . 

Whitman,  Walt,  128. 

Whitney,  Adeline  Train,  contrast  with  Mrs.  Liver- 
more,  242  ;  literary  work.  243 — 249  ;  birthplace, 
245  ;  education,  245  ;  marriage,  246. 

W7hitney,  Anne,  240. 

Whitney,  Seth  D..  246. 

Whittier.  John  Greenleaf,  14,  15,  59,  249,  369,  429. 

Whiton-Stone.  Mrs.,  367. 

Wide- Awake.  3".3. 

Wilklns.  Mary  E.,  work  contrasted  with  Miss  Jewett  s, 
72 ;  marriage.  72. 

WMllard,  Ashton  R..  328,  329. 

Williams,  Prof..  272. 

Wllliamstown,  Mass.,  426. 

Willis.  N.  P.,  17. 

Wingate.  Charles  E.  L..  literary  work,  education,  and 
list  of  books,  418. 

443 


INDEX 


Woman's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union,  238,  255. 

Woman's  Journal,  236. 

Wood,  Henry,  391,  393. 

Woods,  Kate  Tannatt,  home  and  birthplace,  256;  lit 
erary  work,  256,  257. 

Wright,  Carroll  D.,  330. 

Wright,  Josiah  H.,  Harvard  connections,  221,  269. 

Wright,  Mary  Tappan,  literary  work,  221 ;  home  life, 
221. 

Worcester,  27,  35,  294,  327. 

Yankee  Blade,  307. 

Young,  John  Russell,  398. 

Youth's  Companion,  73,  133,  134,  135,  188,  217,  318, 
319,  320,  322,  324. 

Zakrzewska,  Dr.  Marie,  252. 


444 


u 


